Norfolk superintendent's new plan for closing targets Stuart center

NORFOLK

The School Board on Wednesday delayed voting on the fate of Oakwood Elementary School to learn more about an unexpected recommendation involving shuttering another building.

After months of evaluating the possibility of closing Oakwood, Superintendent Stephen C. Jones suggested keeping the school open until a new Crossroads Elementary School could be built to serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Under the plan, the Stuart learning center, on Carolina Avenue, would instead be closed, most of its prekindergarten students would move to Oakwood and Monroe elementaries, and other programs would be relocated.

Jones said he decided on this option, which hadn't been publicly discussed, after the City Council made a stronger commitment to financ ing the Crossroads project in recent weeks.

At Wednesday's meeting, a Stuart PTA president and two faculty members spoke against the idea, which they said they first heard about in a news report. Two School Board members balked at the suddenness of the recommendation.

"Our plan to move our preschool children out of Stuart may be a good plan," Board Member Steve Tonelson said. "But we sort of sprung it on everybody."

Jones said declining enrollment in the school division has made it necessary to close some of the facilities. The Stuart building is a good option because it's not a traditional school and is among those slated to be closed in the school division's master facilities study, he said.

Oakwood students would be better served to a new school than in mobile classrooms, Jones said.

"I have to admit the timing was not the best for Stuart," he said, "and I do apologize."

Amy Jeter, (757) 446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com