Considering when and where our schools are improved

Chesterfield County was the place to send your kids to school in the 1990s.

However, it’s become painfully clear that all parts of the county are not created equal. Although Chesterfield County has an overall budget for schools, how it’s divided is based largely on new residential development.

When new builders come into an area, they’re required to make contributions to the improvement of local schools and roads to accommodate new residents.

Chester Village has been pretty well established and developed for a couple decades now, and without new development, we aren’t seeing an influx in school improvements.

Many residents in the Enon area can speak volumes about the level of disrepair Enon Elementary had to fall into before the school was finally torn down and rebuilt.

Matoaca Elementary is scheduled to be rebuilt in the coming years as well.

Chester Middle School was rebranded to make way for Thomas Dale High School’s overflow.

Carver High – now Carver College and Career Academy – has been rebranded several times as a second chance high school and vocational college.

Looking around the area, we can see that the carcasses of our once proud schools stand abandoned or repurposed.

The questions remain: where do we choose to live, what district is best for our children, and how do we provide them with everything they need to succeed?

It’s no secret that transportation for students is not the smooth process it once was. It’s not a rarity to be short drivers for routes, have buses doubling back for multiple runs, or drop-off and pick-up being 30 minutes to an hour late without the transportation system really blinking an eye. So how do our students get to these schools all over the county?

Really the more information we gain, the more questions we raise. Should money coming into a county only be funneled into the area with new development?

Do we have to purchase a new house in a large new neighborhood to ensure our children are receiving the quality of education they need in elementary and middle school to prepare them for the qualification process at the high school of their choice?

Should the level of public education our children receive be subject to the logistic worries of providing before- and after-care that can drop off and pick them up from a school not in our home district?

The best plan of action is to stay active and informed and advocate for our children and their education as we all work together to make Chesterfield County the school system we remember.