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Scenario 3

Sandusky Elementary School
William Marvin Bass Elementary School
T. C. Miller Elementary School

In June 2023, MGT Education Consulting presented the district four recommendations or proposed scenarios for capital improvements and closures in the city. This phase of planning only considered improvements and closures of the elementary schools. 

Each scenario included close-to-home rezoning, neighborhood schools, which require the city to declare unitary status which will release them from a 1971 desegregation court order. We discuss the history of this order and what unitary status means in the 'Civil Rights Concerns' section.

After presenting the four scenarios to the district, MGT and Lynchburg City Schools hosted four community meetings, met with community groups, and sent out a survey to get feedback on the possible situations. From the survey and community meetings, 70% of the feedback called for scenario 1.

Scenario 1 closes Fort Hill, the alternative school, and repurposes Heritage Elementary School as the alternative school because they are in need of a larger space. The students from Heritage Elementary School would then be rezoned for the surrounding schools.

We discuss our concerns about the limited community input, and how administrators and officials ignored the feedback in the 'Decision Critiques' Section.
 

MGT Scenario 3 (Not what the School Board voted on, they revised their proposal)

Image Image of MGT's scenario 3 proposal

In Scenario 3, current attendance zones would again be overhauled, Sandusky will be closed, and T. C. Miller Elementary would be closed or repurposed to support expanded Pre-K programming.

 

Currently, the school board is realizing it is not an option to convert T. C. Miller completely to a Pre-K facility.

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To accommodate the 600 displaced students and shifting populations, expansions would be required at Bedford Hills, Linkhorne, and Perrymont elementary schools. Linkhorne and Perrymont would also need additional renovations to meet student needs, as is the case at Paul Munro and R.S. Payne elementary schools.

Image of MGT's scenario 3 proposal

All other elementary schools not already specified in this scenario would require building improvements to address safety and maintenance needs.

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Under this scenario elementary utilization increases to +/- 84% with expansion at other sites. Without expansion utilization increases to +/- 92%.

School Board Proposal

Dr. Day's proposal on September 19th is another example of his unilateral decision-making. He continues to propose his own scenarios or scenarios with his own revisions.

These proposals are not backed by an educational evaluation, educational experience, or understanding of Lynchburg elementary schools. His analysis has flaws, he has no plans for implementation, and he does not answer any community questions. However, the majority of school board members have not questioned his proposals.

Dr. Day's revision included a 10 room expansion to William Bass Elementary School, not Bedford Hills, Perrymont, and Linkhorne. This will cause utilization rates to increase 5-7% higher than MGT's recommendations. This means classes will be greater than 22-25 students. See the 'Research' page to understand how this decreases student achievement and success.

The district is waiting for the city council to approve their request for the 15 million dollar expansion. As we understand it, they are going to include it in their budget for 2024.

Since the 19th, the school board has had two meetings where they started to discuss how to implement their plan. It was clear members did not fully understand what they voted on, what the plan included, or whether the plan was even feasible. These failures all contribute to our opposition to the school board.

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