The young producers and anchors of Buford Middle School’s "Buford Live!" TV show didn’t stick around for the Charlottesville School Board’s decision to reconfigure the city’s schools and grades. Nor did many parents—it was a school night, after all. But perhaps they felt reassured by board members who, in two- to three-minute speeches, reiterated the utmost importance of the same students’ education, before a unanimous vote to eliminate a two-year step between elementary and middle school.
The board’s decision to return fifth grade to the city’s six elementary schools and combine grades six through eight in either the existing Walker Upper Elementary or Buford Middle is "a chance to totally reinvent the buildings and our schooling here in Charlottesville City Schools," said board member Ned Michie. The move brings with it an estimated annual saving of $570,000 in staff salaries and rent, as well as the opportunity for a central preschool in the unused middle school location.
No decision has been made about which school, Walker or Buford, will serve as the city’s middle school. However, VMDO Architects estimated that renovation and expansion of Buford could run upwards of $20 million, while adding a centralized preschool and consolidating offices could push the grand total north of $36 million. [The complete facility use and grade configuration report is available here in PDF.]
Puryear praised the potential for increase early childhood development, and said expanded preschool offerings could "provide the city of Charlottesville with access for all." The reconfiguration would move a total of nine preschool classrooms from elementary schools to a new preschool center.
According to member Colette Blount, the school board had not discussed closing a city middle school prior to a 2009 efficiency study. But, she said, "neither of the two options puts our students in an unsafe or an educationally unsound environment." The meeting was the last for Dr. Alvin Edwards; his term will be completed by Guian McKee, an associate professor of public policy at UVA who previously said he supported changing the existing school structure.
The board also agreed to postpone talks of salary increases for its members, which must be voted upon before December 31. Michie said the board should have a "better feel as to whether we’ll be able to give staff increases."
