CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Overcrowding in Chesapeake Public Schools is not a new problem, but school leaders are trying to find new ways to alleviate it.
During Monday night's school board meeting, members listened in on a presentation about the problem of schools going over capacity, crediting the rise in the city's population to this, literally, growing problem. The school division's planning administrator presented the proposed Capital Improvement Plan during the meeting, laying out the numbers related to this problem.
According to the report, majority of elementary schools are facing moderate to significant overcrowding with middle schools like Deep Creek at 108% capacity and Indian River at 117% capacity. The majority of high schools are operating under 100% capacity.
However, the presentation explained how the new Elementary School being built at the Culpepper Landing site is planned to open around 2027 or 2028 with a capacity of about 900 students. In addition to that opening, the presentation also revealed another school in the works of being built on Clearfield Avenue planned to open around 2033.
The presentation also shows the expansion of multiple other locations, helping the school not use the instructional portables.
"I personally think we need to look at it from a district-wide perspective," said Chesapeake school board member, Amanda Dean during the meeting. "To Mr. McCormick's perspective, not just taking a problem and shifting it somewhere else."
Despite these complicated plans in the works, some parents of students said they wanted to see school board members address this problem more intensely years ago.
Brian Roughton said they've been pushing the school board to make different changes for years. He has a daughter in the eighth grade at Indian River Middle School in the gifted program. Roughton said his daughter doesn't face too many issues regarding one-on-one time with her instructor, but he said she does have to walk outside to attend class in the instructional portables.
"It's a safety issue," Roughton said forwardly. "You know, you go to these high schools now and they have locks on these doors and you can't get in easily, but yet they let your kids travel outside for class. Why does that make sense? I have no idea."
Roughton said he wants to see school board members work more closely with city council members to ensure the expansion of schools is not taking away green spaces in the city, saying, "and hopefully they will address it sooner than later, because it's going to be a bigger problem for future generations."
Roughton isn't alone. School board members have discussed the possibility of rezoning the school district, but the school board chairwoman said there are no set plans to change the school zones as they address this problem.
Jessica Dickason has a son, Jaden, in eighth grade at Oscar Smith Middle School. She said he has struggled lately with keeping up on his homework, as his relationship with his teachers dwindled due to classrooms being overwhelmed.
"Oscar Smith Middle has a lot of children with 504 plans and IEPs and these teachers have to know which kid has which IEP, which 504 plan and these classes, they're overwhelmed," Dickason said. "Yeah, it's... it's hard."
Dickason said she and her family live not far from Indian River Middle School. Despite the overcrowding issue, Dickason said she believes her son would do much better there, but because her children are stuck in a certain zone, her son has to attend Oscar Smith Middle School.
She said all she wants is to have the choice to send her son where she finds it to be the best environment for him, especially because he has friends in other schools whom he hardly sees anymore.
"It was very disheartening. These kids, they grow up and build these great relationships and friendships and especially in middle school and you're just moving them around," Dickason said.
In addition to the new schools, during Monday night's meeting, school board members said some schools like Southwestern, Camelot and deep Creek will be renovated to help expand and fit more students.