CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Renovations to Charlottesville High School, Greenbrier Elementary, and Jackson-Via Elementary would be the primary use of funds generated by a proposed 1% sales tax, if voters approve the measure in November, city officials said during Wednesday’s joint session between the Charlottesville City Council and School Board.
Making that vision for the funds clear to the public, Mayor Juandiego Wade said, will be crucial to convincing voters to back the referendum.
“What I think that we need is some consistent talking points for when we get asked at the grocery store, at the ballparks or wherever, and we do get that, about why are we doing this,” Wade told the city schools’ communications staff.
Schools Superintendent Dr. Royal Gurley said they realize voters need something they can wrap their heads around if they’re going to cast a “yes” vote in November.
“That’s why we’ve been very focused on here’s three places, because remember when we came to you the last time there was this long list of projects and we’ve reduced those things down to three,” Dr. Gurley told the meeting. “And said, if we had the money we would focus on these three areas, and so really the baton passes like let’s get people to the yes.”
CCPS Supervisor of Community Relations Amanda Simalchik outlined those three areas as renovations to Charlottesville High School, Greenbrier Elementary, and Jackson-Via Elementary.
She played a video of teachers and staff in the three schools talking about the limitations and improvised fixes they’ve had to utilize while working with the current infrastructure.
Neither Jackson-Via nor Greenbrier have cafeterias, which has made consistently serving hot food to students and staff challenging, according to the video. Jackson-Via meals are prepared at CHS and driven over daily. At Jackson-Via, classrooms lack natural light, the media center is in a hallway, the auditorium has no permanent seating (plastic chairs are set out for events), and the gym flooring has issues.
At Greenbrier, the building design prevents secure vestibule connection to the front office, the plumbing regularly malfunctions, and the auditorium needs new seating, according to the video.
CHS, Simalchik said, is a growing priority especially after the completion of the Charlottesville Middle School overhaul. That school feeds into the high school.
Most current classrooms are windowless and lack space for collaboration, many restrooms are in disrepair, and the building lacks space for career-readiness and ROTC programs, she said.
“You know, we just talked about sparking that passion and building the next generation, but when we think about the space at CCS it daily actively holds back the potential of our students,” Gurley said during Wednesday’s meeting. “In that video, there’s teacher who said she’s one of five teachers who teaches on a cart, and what that means is we have at least 20 class periods that rotate throughout the building without a permanent location daily.
“And these are five full-time teachers because there’s also data that we can provide of other teachers who are rotating throughout the building for at least one period.”
He said those teachers may have a capacity of 20 in their assigned classroom but may have 28 students in a particular class that requires teaching that class in another location.
“I came from Dinwiddie County Public Schools with far less resources than Charlottesville City Schools, and I will tell you, they’re outpacing us in the comprehensive school with what they offer for the students,” Gurley said. “When you look at what’s happening in Louisa right now, Louisa is outpacing us three times over so much so that they built a whole tech center onto the school.
City Manager Sam Sanders noted the city still has bills to pay from recent projects. Funds from the proposed sales tax could be used to be pay off outstanding debt on previous school capital projects, Del. Amy Laufer told Cville Right Now.
“While we have a long list of projects that we need to get done, and while we’ve had a conversation this evening about three specific projects, the early learning center (at former Walker Upper Elementary) is not completely paid for,” Sanders said. “There’s a gap, and it’s big one. We have to fill that gap, so this whole thing is going to probably have to start there.”
Sanders said the CHS renovation might be a project for “some point down the road”.
Simalchik agreed saying, “In terms of community relations and talking to people in the grocery store, it is important for them to know that we don’t believe the tax solves all facility needs for the future. This is an important tool, but it’s not going to answer all our prayers.”
