While some Lynchburg parents are fired up over a proposal to convert T.C. Miller Elementary School to a school serving only pre-kindergarten students, a joint committee of school board and city council members will meet again Thursday to deliberate the matter.
The committee will convene at 5 p.m. in the second-floor training room at City Hall, 900 Church St.
During Tuesday’s school board meeting, some parents asked the board to reconsider the recommendation to close T.C. Miller as an elementary school, according to published reports. A public hearing on the proposal is set for the school board’s April 8 meeting.
According to the agenda for Thursday’s city-schools committee meeting, the panel will look at several recommendations.
Buildings
Building recommendations from the committee as a whole:
- That the school board adopt the proposed capital project plan that includes the conversion of T.C. Miller.
- That no new school buildings should be built during the four-year capital project cycle from fiscal 2025-26 to fiscal 2029-30.
From individual committee members:
- That the school board should decide to close a second elementary school in fiscal 2026-27.
- That each school should take an inventory of empty classrooms, and the school system should put priority on smaller classrooms.
- That the division should redraw school attendance zone boundaries to assign students to neighboring schools, cutting busing costs and boosting community involvement.
- That any new major residential and commercial developments should include an analysis of the impact on schools.
- That a school infrastructure reserve fund should be set up to pay for repairs, maintenance and modernization of buildings.
- That a community task force should be formed to look at building needs and make recommendations.
Other
Other recommendations the committee will hear include:
- That the city council should support the schools’ request for a $5.5 million increase in operational funding in the next fiscal year.
- That the joint city-schools committee should continue meeting through the end of the year and should expand to include parents and a teacher.
- That the city and schools leadership officials should meet monthly.
- That the city council should prioritize appointing school board members who have children in city schools.
You can find more details on the joint meeting here.
