Norfolk Public Schools is preparing to close four elementary schools at the end of the school year and rezone its students.
Division leaders met with families and staff at the impacted schools – Granby, Lindenwood, P.B. Young and Tarrallton – to answer questions and ease anxieties.
The closures and consolidations arepart of a five-year plan approved by the school board last year to address decreasing enrollment and facility usage. The board blamed the Norfolk City Council, which approved a resolution calling for a closure plan.
In the last decade, NPS saw a decline of about 10,000 students. Because schools get most of their money from per-pupil funding, that means the division has lost about $150 million in revenue, Superintendent Jeff Rose said.
“This is a financial challenge of ensuring our resources are flowed into the needs of students, not empty spaces within the division,” he said. “That is the crux of the problem. And, by the way, it doesn’t make anybody feel good, nor should it.”
The division predicted a decline in enrollment for the current school year, but Rose said early internal counts show that number may be smaller than expected. He did not provide an estimate.
The closures include a lot of moving pieces. Students from Granby will move to Camp Allen, Monroe and Suburban Park elementaries. Students from Lindenwood will move to Monroe and Willard elementaries. P.B. Young students will move to Jacox, Monroe and Taylor elementaries. All Tarrallton students will be rezoned for Little Creek Elementary.
A portion of Monroe students will move to Larchmont Elementary. Ruffner Academy, which currently serves grades 3 to 8, will no longer receive elementary students and will soon be a 6 to 8 school after its current elementary students reach sixth grade.
The district published a tool online for families to plug in their address and see their proposed new school.
A consultant from Woolpert, a company working with the division on redistricting, said families would only be impacted by this consolidation plan once, unless the family moves.
She also said the goal was to move neighborhoods to new schools so no student would be isolated after the change.
Through the proposed redistricting, the receiving schools will reach at least 80% capacity based on projected enrollment. The ideal capacity rate is about 85%.
The changes are causing some anxieties for families and staff. One of the most asked questions was about what happens to staff.
Division leaders said staff – including teachers, paraprofessionals, cafeteria and janitorial staff, and administrators – will receive a survey after the first of the year asking whether they want to follow their students or go somewhere new. They’ll have priority when filling open positions.
Families raised concerns about transportation and classroom sizes. Division leaders said they wouldn’t know exact bus routes until new zones are finalized and the number of needed buses is determined. The division also said that classroom sizes at the consolidated schools would remain about the same – no more than 24 students per class or 19 for Title I schools.
This is the second phase of closures for NPS. Norview Elementary and Willoughby Early Childhood Center closed at the start of the school year. Oceanair Elementary was repurposed as a preschool facility.
Lessons were learned with the first phase of closures, Rose said. The division is meeting with families and staff sooner to answer as many questions as it can. He said receiving schools are also welcoming new families and students to events this school year to get students comfortable before the first day.
Monroe Elementary Principal Jade Fleming told families at Granby Elementary School Monday night that she’s excited to welcome them to a place where staff “pour their hearts and souls into every day and are loving on your babies.”
“We are ready to receive you and grow together with you,” she said. “I would encourage us as a community to look at the things that matter. I think if we look at all data points, across achievement, across ‘insert other data point,’ we are a lot more alike than we are different. I think that’s what the real strength in this transition is.”
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