A proposed new elementary school at the Magnolia Green subdivision in the western part of the Matoaca district has been postponed at least a year following the Board of Supervisors’ actions July 25.
The Chesterfield County school board voted 4-1 during a special meeting July 11 to ask the supervisors to add some $36 million to the school district’s Capital Improvement Plan to allow for an elementary school to be built at Magnolia Green and open in the fall of 2020.
On July 25, a motion by Matoaca District supervisor Steve Elswick to place the Magnolia Green Elementary School in the 2020 Capital Improvement Plan was approved 5-0. Elswick said this would mean the school could be discussed during next year’s budget process.
Supervisor Chris Winslow said the county could move up the timeline for building the new school so that It could open in 2021 instead of 2023.
Chesterfield’s deputy county administrator Matt Harris said that any acceleration of the Magnolia Green School project would not adversely impact other school projects.
During public comment on the issue, Brenda Stewart said the Magnolia Green school funding “package was disorganized, with multiple data errors … I’ve never seen such a mess in my life.” Stewart said she supported Elswick’s motion.
Public opposition to moving up the construction timeline for Magnolia Green Elementary was pronounced at the July 11 school board meeting, with some saying that the district should repair existing facilities before building a new school that had not already been planned.
“Many of our schools do not have secure doors,” Rebecca Brown said at the July 11 meeting.
Matoaca District school board member Robert Thompson said he called the July 11 meeting to engage in dialogue. He said designing a new school for Magnolia Green now “would allow it to sync up with Matoaca Elementary to allow [for]one redistricting.”
A new Matoaca Elementary is scheduled to open at the current Matoaca Middle West campus in the fall of 2020.
