There were two meetings on school issues on successive nights earlier this week, providing very divergent views of how best to deal with the City's dilapidated school buildings. The first, on Monday,was to have the School Board choose the final schools to be part of Phase One of the ambitious construction program Mayor Dwight C. Jones has mandated.
Earlier, there had been two committee meetings where an apparently non-binding 'poll' was taken of board members, using high tech equipment that provided instant tallies. At the meeting http://www.examiner.com/x-23689-Richmond-City-Hall-Examiner~y2009m11d10-The-Golden-Rule-He-who-has-the-gold-makes-the-rules a new Hugenot High school was seen as a given and the only task was to rank the remaining schools in order of priority or need. After four rounds of voting, during which Vice Chair Kim Gray abstained, the ranking was Broad Rock Elementary, George Mason Elementary, Oak Grove Elementary and Martin Luther King Middle School.
At Monday's meeting, various School Board members were observed huddled in whispered conversation, with the resulting ranking of schools being changed to give MLK a higher priority than had been voted on. During the 'public comment' period, which some took exception to later because of the inconvenient 4:30pm time, notably Mr. Art Burton, Jr,; speaker after speaker spoke about the sad physical state of school facilities. Private citizens had raised $9,000 for band instruments for Oak Grove students, yet the band could only practice in an auditorium with hundreds of broken seats or in a hallway.
Ceiling tiles falling on pupils, bathrooms not cleaned, HVAC equipment that is noisy or inadequate were just a few of the many complaintscited by parents and board members alike. One resident of the East End asked if MLK could have mops and brooms and be exterminated. Board members Kim Bridges and Chandra Smith spoke of personally seeing the deplorable conditions of schools in their districts, and others have raised cleanliness questions before http://http://www.examiner.com/x-23689-Richmond-City-Hall-Examiner~y2009m10d1-Board-quetions-staff-on-Richmond-Schools-cleanliness-seeks-improvemments but RPS staff has not heeded the board's directive for improved maintainence.
A number of speakers spoke in favor of CCP having a new building. One young lady in particular said her life had been turned around thanks to CCP and that she now worked as a para legal for 'a former mayor of Richmond" . That former mayor, State Senator Henry Marsh III, also spoke on behalf on the CCP facility, neglecting to point out that his law firm has CCP as a client. The new school building plan was quickly ratified by a six to one vote (Board member Don Coleman had been hospitalized, Dr. Murdock-Kitt was out of town, and Ms. Gray voted nay).
The SMART road show
The next evening the Crusade for Voters hosted a panel on the 'SMART' school renovation scheme cooked up by Paul Goldman and former Senator George Allen. The duo was joined by recent unsuccessful Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Terry Mc Aulliffe, in their ongoing quest for public support for their tax credit financing notion.
Again, many spoke about the conditions and age of our schools, vowing "the children deserve better". Left unsaid was how this is to be achieved. Mr. Terone B.Green, an African-American active in Republican party circles,pointedly asked Mr. Goldman, and Sen. Allen if they had spoken with White House Domestic Policy Advisor and Richmonder Ms. Melody Barnes, U.S. Senators Webb and Warner or Cong.Bobby Scott to get their support. Mr. Goldman admitted "I did have discussion with Virginia elected officials, but they didn't jump on board." Sen. Allen didn't answer the question, however City Councilman Bruce Tyler indicated he had "talked with [Cong] Eric Cantor to get the lobbying started"
Antoine Greene, the Crusade President, read a lengthy letter from Gov. Tim Kaine to Cong. Charles Rangel {D-NY} urging the House Ways and Means Chairman to favorably consider the measure. Although School Board members Ms. Betsy Carr and Ms. Kim Gray were in attendance, no mention was made at all of the much touted scholarship fund SMART would generate that was the subject of Mr. Goldman's press conference in October. http://http://www.examiner.com/x-23689-Richmond-City-Hall-Examiner~y2009m10d23-Paul-Goldmans-city-plans-long-on-promises-short-on-specifics A study committee headed by City Councilman Marty Jewell is tasked with evaluating the plan, which was supported overwhelmingly by a voice vote with a sole 'nay'
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