6th District School Board candidate Jason Thompson proposes breaking up MLK Middle School and adding a new school in Whitcomb Court.
“When you have a system that is pretty much promoting poverty, it’s not going to work,” he explained. The school currently serves [four] of Richmond’s public housing developments.
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His proposal is to build two new schools, a general middle school on the site where the vacant Whitcomb Court School currently sits, and a satellite high school on Dove Street.
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The MLK Middle School attendance zone, which includes Whitcomb Court, Mosby Court, Creighton Court, Fairfield Court, a portion of Chestnut Plateau, Blackwell, and Fulton. (Click to view larger.) As recently as 2004, the area was served by 3 middle schools (Onslow Minnis, Chandler, and Mosby).
10 comments
Jeeze, you can’t build a building like that and then just decide not to use it. Would the proposal be for some middle school kids to use the building, just drawing from a different mix of areas?
This school houses the population of 4 low income housing projects. I agree with Jason Thompson that there needs to be more diversity in the student body. I believe they already changed the leadership at the school a year ago, and the ruckus continues.
Robbie Summey liked this on Facebook.
If you send your kid to that school, you should first send them to Karate lessons
Good to see someone brainstorming for solutions to the problems at MLK -it has been out of control. The school could also use strong leadership. Note the teacher who disagreed with the candidate Jason Thompson is falsely given the title of RPS teacher. She teaches and lives in Henrico county.
I’m always glad to see that the board is willing to make changes, but this planned “walk-through” is too little too late. I have friends who work there and these are their words and not mine.
@kirsten – fwiw, Teresa used to live in Church Hill and taught at Henderson. She’s a good one.
Why is this being proposed now? Surely it was the case before the re-build.
@Michael – A few things…
1) At the time that the rebuild was being discussed, MLK was fully accredited, had a strong principal, and was on a positive trajectory.
2) Chandler MS on Brookland Park was still open. Chandler closed in 2009 for “failure to meet federal academic standards”, sending the students from Chestnut Plateau and Whitcomb Court to MLK.
Living and teaching in Henrico does not invalidate a person. It is, at best, a weak attempt to invalidate with out actually addressing the issue. If you take issue with her position, than disagree, but personal attacks lack any and all validity.