CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The City of Chesapeake and its school system worked in tandem to create a survey for people to take that will help define future needs and wants for students in the district.
The survey lets users rank their preference in order and it asked questions that involved students in elementary, middle, and high school.
The City invested $720,000 into the project to identify what all students need the most for their future.
Chesapeake parent Audwin Pellom said that his biggest priority was safety and more STEM.
“The first thing that jumped out to me was safety. But I would also love to see more STEM going on especially with the science,” said Pellom.
Pellom said that kids could stand to have more hands-on classes.
“I grew up with a lot of VoTech, hardwood classes, building classes, automotive classes. I’d like to see the basics being taught, said Pellom.
However, Pellom said the survey asked about adjusting school attendance zones, and that’s not something he wants to see.
“I love my district. If they rezoned us and forced us out of here, that’d probably be a bad day for us,” said Pellom.
Former Chesapeake substitute teacher Pattie Cartwright filled out the survey and said that while people prefer to stay in their zones, there may have to be give and take.
“You know everyone likes to be in their local, in their neighborhood. If we have existing buildings and infrastructure that would allow redistricting to happen without having to build all new buildings, that seems like a reasonable answer,” said Cartwright.
Cartwright said her top priorities on the survey were VoTech opportunities, STEM classes, and infrastructure to help with overcrowding.
“I put great value in the education we have to offer. And I would say that I just think because of the overcrowding issues, we need to address the infrastructure of these different schools,” said Cartwright.
She said it’s amazing to watch students that get what they need to find success.
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“I loved when I saw the sparkle in their eyes. If you looked across the classroom you could see kids really trying and really wanting to learn, and I knew they were setting themselves up for a better future,” said Cartwright.
Cartwright’s son Zachary Cartwright was a former Chesapeake graduate, and he agreed that overcrowding had to be addressed and that funding had to be fair.
“Overcrowding is from what I hear a huge issue. And I wonder if the distribution of the funds would be adequate across all schools in the system,” said Zachary.
Zachary also said he hoped the district would consider more education technology in the classroom.
“Also, there’s a huge push for technology-driven education. Teaching classes with iPads, a lot of presentations, even things like over the phone tutors,” said Zachary.
The survey is open to the public until December 9th. The second Community dialogue on the topic will be held on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, at Deep Creek High School, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.