Construction continues to expand the size of Buford Middle School to accommodate sixth-grade students as part of a reconfiguration. This week the walls are being put on the gymnasium building.
As part of the reconfiguration, fifth grade classes will return to the city’s six elementary schools for the first time in around 35 years. To make that work, the zones for each school will need to be adjusted to take that into account as well as other demographic changes that may occur.
Charlottesville City Schools have hired the firm Woolpert to help conduct community engagement on how the lines should be drawn. (learn more)
“This is a data and community driven process that not only takes into account division goals, but also community feedback,” said the firm’s Karen Jackson. “We value all stakeholder feedback, whether it’s from the board, administration or community, and we’ll use it to craft a recommendation that both the division and the community can stand behind.”
Key considerations in the work involve maximizing the number of students who can walk to a school, maximizing bus efficiency, and keeping neighborhoods intact. Another is to maintain and increase diversity of student populations.
A committee has come up with four proposals for the public to review and a survey is under way through December 1. A series of meetings were held this week and two virtual meetings will be held next Wednesday at 12 p.m (register) and 6 p.m. (register).
Jackson said even people without children in city schools are asked to give feedback.
“Once we receive feedback about the options, we’ll then go back to the drawing board to make revisions,” Jackson said. “Based on the feedback, we’ll work with the committee to make those revisions and produce a recommendation. Once a recommendation has been determined, we will then bring that to the community for a public hearing.”
That presentation will come before the School Board early next year. Implementation would take place in August 2026 when reconfiguration is finally implemented.
People are asked to watch the video before filling out the survey.
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Sean, would you be interested in doing a follow up on this now that the school board has chosen their zoning plan? Families in the Locust Grove neighborhood have significant concerns about the current proposed plan (relocating kids in LG from a walkable Burnley Moran to Greenbrier 3.5+ miles away) and would be happy to provide you with some of their points. I’ll send an inquiry through the site too.