The Virginian-Pilot
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It was a reprise of last month's first public hearing on school rezoning - but with nearly double the speakers.
Sixty people came before the School Board on Monday night for their last chance to speak about the proposal to rezone four Chesapeake neighborhoods from Grassfield High School to Deep Creek High School before a vote scheduled for the end of the month.
The Deep Creekers came out again, wearing purple and saying their school needs help. The Grassfield parents said they had been lured into buying houses based on false promises.
Students from Deep Creek said they were receiving a quality education from their teachers - not from technology. Grassfield students - several from military families - said they'd finally found a place they liked and wanted to stay.
"They have the best school library I have ever seen," said one who 'd attended five schools in five years.
"I want to stay at Grassfield High. I am a Grizzly, and I want to graduate from Grassfield High as a Grizzly."
The plan before the board would move about 230 students in the Elmwood Landing, Olde Mill Run, Mill Creek and Culpepper Landing neighborhoods that had been moved into the Grassfield zone four years ago back into the Deep Creek zone.
If approved, the zoning change would go into effect next fall.
The administration hopes to boost enrollment at Deep Creek, where academics, athletics and extracurriculars have suffered since Grassfield opened in 2007, taking away about 800 students.
At the hearing, some parents asked the board whether moving 230 students back to Deep Creek would be enough to make a difference in the areas where the school is struggling - having enough students in honors classes and keeping sports teams competitive.
Some Deep Creek parents agreed that the rezoning had to be a first step in a long-term plan for revitalizing the school, including the board's plan for an academy in the school.
Board members will hear a presentation on the academy at the Oct. 26 meeting, the same day the board is scheduled to take a final vote on the rezoning proposal.
Alicia Wittmeyer, (757) 222-5216, alicia.wittmeyer@pilotonline.com
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Rezoning
Since when do you shuffle kids and their families around because a schools sports teams are not going as good as they used to? Did they move people out of Deep Creek in the 1990's when their football team was so good and other Chesapeake's teams were terrible? Maybe there is a reason why the attendance is lower, could it be that people are intentionally avoiding moving into that school zone? What will keep those people from moving out of the neighborhoods if they approve this move? Four years ago all of these families children were forced to move to a new school, that the majority of them didn't want to do, but they did and the outcome was a tight knit community, excellent school atmosphere. Now they are being forced again, to move out of the school they worked so hard at to develop, being used as chess pieces to move to a school that for some reason can't function without them. So they are going to move some of students because academics are low at Deep Creek? Maybe it is the school and not the students, who is to say these new students' grades won't lower once they get there? It certainly appears that the Chesapeake School Board is led by a bunch of people who don't know
Rezone
It is time for every one to face the facts! The neighborhoods of Olde Mill Run, Elmwood Landing, Mill creek and yes even Culpepper Landing are in Deep Creek and less then 1.5 miles from Deep Creek High school that is currently below capacity. No one can provide any logical reason not to return these neighborhoods back to DCH with the exception of the empty property valve argument. West of the canal attend DCH east of the canal attend GFH.
It’s time to manage the school attendance zones with the best interest of the students the community and at not time in the interest of real estate development. If the current school board can not or will not do that they will face the Ballot Box!
From a former Deep Creeker
I am a former CREEKER and my children are now attending the same schools I attended. I thought it was ridiculous when they divided the schools up the way they did and think they should do some rezoning!!!!! How stupid is it to take the kids from Mill Creek on back and put them in Grassfield? That was just DUMB!!!!!!!!! I made it a point to live on the correct side so my kids could attend Deep Creek schools. These people had to know it was coming. I mean the number of children in the schools have dropped too much and the "ATHLETIC" divisions have dropped also. Deep Creek use to be one of the MAJOR teams to beat and since the "rezonning" they have become a joke. Get a grip people, a lot of these kids should be attending Deep Creek anyway!!!!! Since I am talking schools and sports, can someone please tell me why some of the Grassfield coaches will cut the seniors from the teams, because they will be leaving, and pick up the ones that have a couple years left? That is DUMB to me also. You can mess up a childs future because of that. REZONE them and put them where they belong. Thank you!!!!!!!
Rezoning of CP High Schools
Hmmmmmmm....what goes around, comes around School Board Members......you should be ashamed of your selves for the decisions you made 4 years ago regarding the rezoning and how you backed down and changed the plan when it got too hot in the kitchen.............when are elections coming up?
Please plan your decisions based on your own needs as done prior....why change now????
Good luck and see you Monday the 26th!
rezone
It makes no sense to have one overcrowded school and one under crowded school. Of course angry parents will say they didn't sign up for this when they moved in... haha get over it. You chose to move to a fast growing, poorly planned suburban mess... if C-Peake is so amazing stop whining. This problem was completely avoidable and you could see it coming a mile away... rezone rezone rezone... Northern VB (great neck/little neck) is where you should have chosen to live if you wanted a stable and predictable suburb...
There Is Not One Overcrowded School In Chesapeake
Your statement should read, "It makes no sense to have three overcrowded schools and one undercrowded school." Have you seen how overcrowded Western Branch, Indian River, and Oscar Smith High Schools are?