City board weighs closing of Buford or Walker

Charlottesville school administrators say there could be nearly $695,000 worth of potential staff reductions if either Walker Upper Elementary School or Buford Middle School is closed, as the division reviews whether it should consolidate its middle schools.

The staff cuts include a principal, guidance counselor, nurse, child nutritional workers and office clerical positions.

If Walker and Buford are combined, the lone middle school would house sixth through eighth grades, and fifth grade would go back into elementary schools. Last month, board member Ned Michie asked school administrators to compile information on which positions the division would be willing to cut if Walker and Buford were consolidated.

At the board’s meeting Thursday, Jim Henderson, the division’s assistant superintendent for administration services, said the reductions were based on current staffing levels at the two schools. But because the one middle school would have an added grade level, board member Colette Blount said more services might be needed.

“There needs to be maybe not a full one-to-one replacement,” she said of the staff cuts.

The board and administrators have been discussing closing a school for more than a year, spurred initially by an efficiency study that recommended the city shut down an elementary school to be more efficient in its use of buildings. Charlottesville currently has six elementaries, one upper elementary, one middle and one high school.

Information presented to the School Board also showed that the following positions would be needed for programs in the combined middle school and in elementary schools receiving fifth-graders: three staff for band, two for orchestra, two for chorus, two for art, four physical education teachers and one instructional assistant, plus two staff devoted to a new college-preparatory program called Advancement Via Individual Determination.

Reading, math and gifted specialists would be included with the schools’ individual staffing formulas. Henderson also said it appears that if fifth grade went back to elementary schools, the division would need to add about three school buses, something Michie expressed surprise about because Walker and Buford currently have 12 buses each.

“It doesn’t sound like there would be any savings transportation-wise,” he said.

A report done by VMDO Architects initially concluded that Buford would be the better school to combine the three grades. Some of the reasons given were: it would be more feasible to link Buford’s multiple buildings with covered hallways, and the campus will be home to the new Smith Aquatic Center and the Boys & Girls Club, which can be shared with the school’s student population.

VMDO estimated that it would cost $20.85 million to combine sixth through eighth grades at Buford. Doing the same at Walker is estimated to cost $18.2 million, though that figure does not include making connections between Walker’s various buildings because it appears to be less feasible and desirable than at Buford, according to VMDO.

The board will have a workshop on Sept. 15 about the topic, scheduled for 4 p.m. at Burnley-Moran Elementary School. It is expected to take a vote Oct. 21.