School Closing Plan Surprises Some in Portsmouth

By Deirdre Fernandes, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Mar. 16–PORTSMOUTH — Few parents are expected to speak out today about the premature shutdown of a poorly performing elementary school.

Some parents are frustrated that they weren’t included early on in discussions to close Stephen H. Clarke Academy . For others, who live in nearby public housing, just getting to the meeting can be a challenge.

“They do feel that the rug has been pulled out from under their feet,” said Sheri H. Bailey , a Portsmouth School Board member.

The board is holding a required public hearing about Clarke’s future tonight and will vote in April on whether to close the school.

That’s short notice for parents who found out about the proposed closing three weeks ago after reading the newspaper, said Cheryl Poe, chairwoman of the NAACP regional education consortium.

When the division recently closed two elementary schools and a middle school, parents received more than two months ‘ notice before the public hearing, Poe said.

“We don’t believe that the school did an adequate job informing parents about the options.”

Superintendent David C. Stuckwisch suggested the closure publicly after talking privately to individual board members and getting their tentative support.

The school had been scheduled to close in 2008, but Stuckwisch suggested closing it this year to avoid sanctions from the federal government for failing to raise test scores fast enough.

The NAACP consortium plans to ask Stuckwisch for a meeting to discuss Clarke’s closure, but Poe said she worries that officials have already made their decision.

Teams of division administrators have met to discuss how the students, staff, programs and equipment will be spread across the city.

Stuckwisch said he hasn’t heard of much opposition.

“There’s nothing negative about closing Clarke,” Stuckwisch said. It’s difficult to compare school closings, he said. The middle school closure last year took more time because it required moving sixth-graders to elementary schools, he added.

Portsmouth is the first of Virginia’s three school divisions facing this dilemma to announce its plans for a failing school.

Clarke, along with a middle school in Richmond and another in Petersburg, have been on the state’s list of low-performing schools for four years.

In 2004-05, 61 percent of Clarke students passed the English tests and 70 percent passed math.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, if the school doesn’t meet the federal benchmarks this year, the division would have to replace Clarke’s staff or surrender the school to a private company.

The division has already tried the first option, and many school board members said they are opposed to privatization when the building was already set to close.

The city also plans to demolish the Jeffry Wilson housing project, which sends many students to Clarke, in the next three years.

“There’s not a lot of choice,” said School Board member Elizabeth Daniels, who is also president of the Portsmouth NAACP chapter.

But for Tina Porter, the mother of a Clarke fifth-grader, moving her daughter to another school isn’t any better. Her daughter, Martina Cook, 11, has found stability at Clarke, which serves kindergarten through sixth grade .

“She loves the teachers, she loves the classrooms, she loves the school,” said Porter, who has posted her daughter’s school certificates on the living room walls. “We have finally gotten settled here and we have to leave.”

Cindy Hooker, who has a rising kindergartner and lives in Jeffry Wilson, said Clarke is convenient for meetings with teachers or school emergencies.

“A lot of people in the projects aren’t able to afford transportation,” Hooker said. “Having a school right close to us is important. I feel like there should have been more notification and maybe polled some parents.”

But Hooker said she isn’t sure whether she’s going to the public hearing. She has to find a ride to City Hall.

Housing projects don’t have strong civic leagues, and many of the families don’t know how to lobby their government, Bailey said.

“I think we should be trying harder,” Bailey said.

“It would have been nice to have all these people together a couple of months ago. But no plan is set in stone, especially when you’re talking about peoples’ lives.”

Reach Deirdre Fernandes at (757) 222-5121 or deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com.

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