By Charlotte Matherly, contributor
If all housing developments underway in Rockingham County are completed as planned, several of the area’s schools will run out of room for students – and a planned new elementary school might need to be built sooner than previously thought.
Superintendent Larry Shifflett projected at Monday’s school board meeting that demographic shifts bringing more people to the area, particularly southeast of Harrisonburg, will fill up or overpopulate at least four schools: Spotswood High School, Elkton and Montevideo middle schools, and Cub Run and Peak View elementary schools.
“There will have to be, at some point, a new elementary school,” Shifflett said. “The question is, when will that be?”
The school board has planned for one to open in 2032, with several schools already in line to be enlarged or renovated, but Shifflett suggested the board might move up the new building in the queue. Aside from construction costs, a new school would require an additional $3.8 million in local funding each year.
The county is set to begin renovations and additions to McGaheysville Elementary School next year and embark on building a new technical center. Additions to Elkton Middle School, then Montevideo Middle School, are also on deck.
At the heart of the population influx are Cub Run and Peak View elementary schools, where Shifflett said the school board could increase enrollment or bring in mobile units to hold more students. That’s not ideal, he said, as it would force changes to curriculum and schedule rotations but could be used to get the county through a “tight spot.”
Other options, Shifflett added, are to increase the county schools’ class sizes, enrolling more students per teacher, and redistricting to spread out the impact.
Nothing would be immediate, Shifflett said, and he encouraged board members to take their time considering options.
“I have no intention of coming back to the next meeting and asking what your decision is,” Shifflett said. “I think these are things that we have to contemplate.”
Board member Matt Cross said he doesn’t want to put off renovations to Spotswood High School again – they’ve already been delayed until 2029, under the current plan – and wasn’t keen on a new elementary school or the new technical center jumping ahead in line. Instead, he said he leaned toward redistricting to keep enrollment temporarily at bay.
“It feels like some of these stuff are getting pushed further and further out, and I know I’m not happy about that, and I know there are a lot of parents within my district … that won’t be happy to see that Spotswood High School again is being pushed further behind for renovations,” Cross said. “It’s an old school. It needs to be renovated. There are a lot of things that need to be updated … It needs some TLC.”
Lab schools on the rise
Lab school courses are now open at every high school in the county, and the program has grown to 300 students and 26 teachers, said Donica Hadley, the executive director.
The project is meant to prioritize innovative, hands-on learning while providing an opportunity for high-school students to earn college credits at JMU or Blue Ridge Community College, which help run the lab school.
By the start of the 2027-28 school year, the district aims to enroll 550 students in lab school classes, which are projected to be available for almost every grade at every high school (except 12th grade at Spotswood and Turner Ashby high schools).
Vote on field trip policy in October
The school board will vote on a new field trip chaperone policy at its Oct. 13 meeting. Most board members have said they lean toward a plan that would not require at least one chaperone of the same gender as students attending an overnight field trip, which was originally proposed.
The new proposed rule calls for two chaperones, regardless of gender, at a minimum for overnight field trips. The policy, if approved, wouldn’t go into effect until January.
Sara Horst suggested informing parents two weeks in advance about which chaperones will be attending.
“I think the more information you give parents to make a decision about that trip, the best, the better it is,” Horst said.
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