Gifted program expansion delayed: Coyner pleads for minority students at Carver Middle School

By a 3-2 vote with Carrie Coyner and Dianne Smith dissenting, the Chesterfield School Board last week voted to delay the expansion of the district’s Center Based Gifted Program for one year.

The decision means that it will be another year before students in the Bermuda District have a gifted education program in their area. Currently, these students must make long bus rides to Matoaca Middle School.

Coyner made an impassioned plea to stay on schedule with the program at Carver, citing the need for minority students – black boys in particular – to have access to such a program in their neighborhood.

“I am very upset with the decision that I know is going to happen,” Coyner said. “Our lower income and minority students deserve to have rigorous coursework and to be encouraged by teachers in their neighborhood school…” She said that far too many black boys do not travel to Matoaca Middle School or enroll in gifted programs, noting that they are often laughed at and scorned for pursuing academic excellence.

“We have had a system of (gifted) centers in our county that were created ages ago to serve mainly white students,” she said, noting that adding such a center at Carver is important because the school has more black students than any school in the county.

Coyner said it would be hard to have a gifted program ready for Carver by fall, but noted that such a program was begun at Swift Creek Middle School last year, and that school staff weren’t notified of that decision until April.

Coyner said that some Matoaca Middle School teachers do not want to teach more than just gifted students. Coyner said she was not OK with that because teachers across the district have more than one type of instruction level.

Board member Javaid Siddiqi said he was “a little taken aback” by Coyner’s comments. “Progress is slow. We’re going to get there,” he said.

“We’re not identifying enough gifted students of color,” Siddiqi said, noting that a recent leadership change at Carver is a good reason to pause the program’s expansion for a year.

“Is the new leader [Anthony McLaurin] ready to take on a new program?” Siddiqi asked. McLaurin became principal at Carver last month when he and the school’s former principal, Jason Trueblood, swapped positions. McLaurin had been principal at the county’s Juvenile Detention Center.

“I feel like my integrity has been questioned,” Siddiqi said. “This is the superintendent’s recommendation.”

Board chairman Rob Thompson also said Coyner’s comments were “a little troubling.”

Dale District board member John Erbach said he had grappled with the issue and saw both sides. Erbach said he and Coyner had a joint community meeting about the subject. “If I struggle with a decision, I lean very heavily on my constituents,” he said, noting that the Dale District residents who attended the community meeting unanimously voted in a straw poll to pause the program.

Although Thompson said that district staff recommended pausing the program for a year, the agenda listed two recommendations, including opening a center at Carver this fall as planned and not sending Bailey Bridge Middle School students to Matoaca Middle. Coyner favored the latter option.

In an attempt to clear up the issue at the end of the Feb. 13 meeting, Thomas Taylor, the district’s chief of staff, said he gave a verbal recommendation to the board in favor of a one-year pause.

Election Day
In other news, the board approved a 2019-2020 school calendar that will not have students attending on Election Day, Nov. 5.

Year-round school
The board voted to proceed with year-round school at Falling Creek Elementary School this summer. The district will now seek final approval from the state Department of Education. If approved, Falling Creek would be the second Chesterfield County school to adopt the innovative schedule, following Bellwood Elementary, which started it July 23.

Door replacements
The second phase of a door hardware replacement project was approved at a cost of $1.11 million to National Door & Security Corp. of Richmond. It will affect 52 schools and two administration buildings. The project is slated to begin in June and be completed by December. The first phase is currently underway.

Harrowgate construction
The board approved a $22.68 million contract with Oyster Point Construction Co. of Newport News to build the new Harrowgate Elementary School. The bid was the lowest of four, which ranged up to $24.64 million. The new school – which is slated to open in the fall of 2020 – will be built on some of the land where the current Harrowgate Park is located west of the current Carver Middle School.

Public comments
During public comment, several teachers requested a 5-percent raise in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget that the district will consider approving Feb. 26. The proposed budget calls for a 3-percent increase.
Cody Sigman, who identified himself as a gay eighth-grade teacher, requested that the district approve a policy to protect students and employees from discrimination based on gender identity, expression or sexual orientation. Sigman said he could be fired for being gay. “I’m not protected by state or federal law or executive order or Chesterfield County policy,” he said. Sigman said he created a professional development training program that supports LGBTQ students and educators that was adopted by the Virginia Education Association.