Pre-School at the Dump for East Enders
In the Byrd Park area, we've had to follow the rezoning soap opera and threats to close one of our elementary schools just to figure out what our options are for our children's education. But, if you think that's a lot of hand-wringing, at least we don't have to decide if we want our 4 year olds attending pre-school on top of a methane-belching landfill that was closed as a public school facility several years ago. That's the situation in the East End brought on by Superintendent of Schools, Yvonne Brandon and eight of nine school board members. Chris Dovi's Richmond Mag blog has the details and history of this environmental racism controversy.
For some reason, Richmond's school leadership made a last-minute decision to reopen A.V. Norrell, a school that was closed during a sewage-contaminated flood amidst accusations that children were already getting sick, allegedly because the schoolyard methane levels were high (the poisonous gas rises up out of the decomposing landfill buried beneath the school). The school yard actually features a fenced-in metal exhaust vent with an eternal flame for burning off the excess methane. Would this give any of you pause as you drop off your child at school?
On just over a week's notice, September 10th, RPS intends to send 250 East End pre-schoolers to the site to free up space at other schools. This fact inspires head-scratching as well. Here's civic leader, Antoine Green:
“My issue with it now is basically in light of the dialogue that we’ve had over the past school year about closing three of our most academically successful schools, we now find ourselves reopening another school that we all know to have been built on a landfill,” Green says. “Wouldn’t it make sense to solve that problem of under-enrollment by including those students in a school [that’s underpopulated]?”
West of downtown, there is a high level of critical input and questioning of Richmond Public Schools, for better or worse, depending on your point of view. Maybe that's one reason why we have Fox and Munford and we haven't seen our children routed towards a facility any more controversial than Maymont elementary. However, other parts of town put more trust in their school system to represent their interests and to take good care of the children. Perhaps lack of consideration (or fear of accountability) prompted the hasty decision to resurrect the toxic A.V. Norrell Elementary as a region-wide pre-school facility without actively seeking public input.
Those who originally pushed for A.V. Norrell to be closed are mobilizing again at Tuesday's School Board meeting and are asking for help holding school leadership accountable. Maybe this issue doesn't affect our neighborhoods directly, but higher standards for the care and education of Richmond's children benefits us all.
End note: As author of this post, I've taken a keen interest in this story, because I lived near Battery Park when the area flooded with sewage in 2006. We couldn't go anywhere near A.V. Norrell, as the blocks around it were taped off. Prior to that, I was involved with community groups concerned about the school and the school board's attitude toward its children and parents. This week, I'll take my oldest child to pre-school at Maymont, where our biggest concern is whether the state-of-the-art outdoor toys are still functioning in the newly installed playground. I'm grateful for the privilege of our education options, and I think everyone else should have access to the same.
Update:
I never understood why the Pre-k was housed within a middle school to start with. I don’t understand how, after years of dragging their feet about making RPS schools ADA compliant, they could suddenly find $125k to renovate Norell in a month’s time. Having been involved with Patrick Henry and their renovations, I saw first hand how the RPS school board berated the people who wanted to renovate the PH school building. A renovation that they didn’t have to fund or manage, yet felt free to criticize and hinder. And here they allow a move into a known “sick” building? And why did they wait so long to make a decision? They’ve know about the construction at MLK for some time now. It’s a stunning move all the way around.
They moved the pre-k students when they realized how badly the SOL scores were impacted at MLK last year.
This is hardly a balanced post, and I’m not sure why Byrd Park is weighing on this particular issue. You’ve cherry-picked quotes to support an opinion, not truly inform anyone.
Check out Chris Dovi’s piece on Richmond Magazine for both sides of the story http://richmondmagazine.com/news/blogs_the408.php
“School system officials are insisting Norrell is safe to reopen as a temporary home for its East End preschool “Center for Excellence,” citing the fact that the school has in fact been open since 2007 for city Parks and Recreation activities, including a boxing academy. More recently, it served as a temporary home to one of the city’s library branches.
But school system officials insist that those dangerous conditions no longer exist. The dump — it was not technically a landfill, according to state and federal regulatory agency definition, because it predated laws regulating landfills — was closed more than 60 years ago.
Richmond Public Schools Chief Operating Officer P. Andy Hawkins, who is overseeing last-minute renovations to Norrell in advance of students arriving on Sept. 10 (pre-k programs start a week after regular school), says the science indicates that most dumps continue to emit dangerous levels of methane only for about 20 years. And recent testing by the school system shows that there is no methane present at all in Norrell.”
Francine: I linked to Chris Dovi’s story and included a single quote from it to increase the relevance for ByrdPark.net readers. We were told that Cary was half-full and needed to close. Now RPS is rushing to make more space by reopening an old facility that’s politically flammable (if not literally). Parents and citizens ought to be interested in public education and elected leadership across boundaries. Together we stand. Divided we fall. No thanks. Also, I haven’t made any claims to maintain a ‘balanced’ community blog. In fact, I’m going for unique and egalitarian (meaning, I’ll post your content/comments as well as mine). But I’ll go ahead a post a little disclaimer on this one since people might be curious why I think this is so important.
How does the presence of four-year-olds have a negative impact on SOL scores for a middle school? Were they taking the test too?
“We certainly wouldn’t have put children in harm’s way.”
Whatever, Oakley. When it was pointed out to you that fumes and smoke from equipment were leaking into Maymont during your rush to pretty it up for the preschool conversion dog & pony show, you denied it. When you were told that a certain East End elementary had rampant mold growth due to water leaks, you denied it all.
Deny, deny, deny. Oakley and the rest of Yvonne’s stooges wouldn’t know the truth if it bit ‘em in the ass.
It’s particularly unsettling when our elected officials and our established public institutions act as though they have amnesia, or that they hope the rest of us do. The finding on the school site were damning in 2006 prompting the school’s closing, and little has changed since. Check out this report: http://active-rva.tumblr.com/post/30911008720/research-findings-regarding-norrell-elementary
The latest link is really good info. I don’t understand how the school board can ignore such a report and reopen the site. It isn’t just about what gases are present in the school building, but also what gases and environmental dangers are present on the school ground. Do you know what ended up happening at Tuesday’s school board meeting? I wish I had more confidence that they would do the right thing.