Since high school students don’t necessarily use lockers anymore, the Chesterfield County Public Schools board has decided to convert the space to classrooms.
During the April 14 meeting, which was held virtually with each board member in a different location, the board approved a $1.29 million contract for ARM Contracting to convert lockers to 28 spaces at four high schools, including Clover Hill, Cosby, Matoaca and Meadowbrook.
Matoaca High will get eight additional spaces, and Meadowbrook High will have four more.
“Lockers have become an outdated use of space at the high school level,” said deputy superintendent Thomas Taylor. He said they are still “very much a middle school phenomenon.”
Taylor credited Superintendent Merv Daugherty for asking about converting the lockers during his first tour of the schools last year.
As part of the consent agenda, the board accepted a $1,500 grant from the John Randolph Foundation to create a mobile makerspace at Harrowgate Elementary. It will provide teachers and students access to machines, tools and materials to use in the classroom to create opportunities for collaboration, problem solving and creating.
Taylor noted that on April 20, the school district will begin operating a call center from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday to offer help for academic or other resources.
Board chair Debbie Bailey noted that over $15,000 have been raised for the Chesterfield Food Bank from the “Standing Together, Six Feet Apart” t-shirt fundraiser. Bailey said Amy Bartilotti designed the t-shirts, which can be ordered at Bonfire.com for $18.99 to $21.99 plus shipping. CCPS partnered with various community organizations in the endeavor.
Bailey complimented school staff on their work after schools were closed March 13.
“I could never be more prouder than I am right now of the work that our school system is doing,” she said, noting her 34 years working in the school district. Bailey said that she watched staff “pivot on a dime and turn our 63,000-student education system into an online distance learning” program. “These are Herculean tasks, unprecedented times and really unchartered waters,” she added. Bailey called staffers’ efforts “really amazing,” and said, “Hats off to CCPS.”
On March 23, Gov. Ralph Northam closed schools through the end of the academic year due to the coronavirus.
On March 30, Northam issued a stay-at-home order through June 10.
Some have criticized Northam’s school closures, because, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children with confirmed COVID-19 generally have mild symptoms as opposed to seniors and those with compromised immune systems.
On Friday, President Donald Trump encouraged protestors in Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia who disagree with stay-at-home orders and designations about “non-essential” businesses.
