City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, MAYOR HON. CHARLIE L. FRYE, JR., VICE -MAYOR, WARD FOUR CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. MATTHEW J. KELLY, AT-LARGE HON. JASON N. GRAHAM, WARD ONE HON. WILLIAM C. WITHERS, JR., WARD TWO Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street HON. DR. TIMOTHY P. DUFFY, WARD THREE Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Joint City Council/School Board Work Session September 14, 2021 New School Update Career and Technical Education Update The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a joint work session on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, beginning at 5:30 p.m.at the Walker-Grant Center, School Board Meeting Room, 210 Ferdinand Street, Fredericksburg, VA 22401. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Presiding. Vice-Mayor Charlie L. Frye, Jr. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy, Jason N. Graham, Matthew J. Kelly and William C. Withers, Jr. School Board Present. Jarvis Bailey, Chair. Kathleen Pomeroy, Vice-Chair, Jennifer Boyd, Jannan Holmes, Malvina Kay, Elizabeth Rehm. Also Present. City Manager Timothy J. Baroody, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Economic Development Director Bill Freehling, Assistant Director of Tourism M.C. Moncure, Superintendent Marceline Catlett, Deputy Superintendent Matthew Eberhardt, Chief Academic Officer Lori Bridi, Director of Finance Jennifer Brody, Chief Operations/Information Officer Michael George, Director of Operations Don Upperco, Assistant to the Superintendent/Clerk of the Board Angela Chance and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Others Present. President of Germanna Community College Dr. Janet Gullickson. New School Update. Enrollment. Dr. Eberhardt reviewed the student enrollment for 2021/2022 school year to date. Dr. Eberhardt reported there were 122 students in Preschool, 924 in Hugh Mercer, 800 at Lafayette Upper Elementary, 785 at Walker Grant and 1038 at James Monroe with a total of 3,669 students. This was an increase of 72 in elementary, decrease of 12 students in Middle 1 School and an increase of 78 at the high school. He said this number would take a dip in the next few weeks and there would be a slow increase as the year goes on. See Attachment I for more information. Councilor Withers asked if the additional students were from additional units being added or from people moving from outside the City into the City. Dr. Eberhardt said he was not sure because he did not have those numbers. Councilor Kelly said he would like a better metric for measuring students in newly built units. Chairman Bailey said he would also like to see better metrics because those number impact the schools. Councilor Duffy disclosed that he was an employee of the Fredericksburg City Schools but he was able to participate fairly, objectively and in the public interests. Vice-Mayor Frye disclosed that his spouse was an employee of the Fredericksburg City Schools but he was able to participate fairly, objectively and in the public interests. Projections. Mr. Whitley reviewed the updated enrollment projections through School Year 2030. See Attachment II. Councilor Kelly said he would like to see the model that was used to get these numbers because there were significant variances in the numbers. Councilor Graham suggested that the big discrepancy in Crabtree’s number was that they assumed that last year’s kindergarten numbers were going to maintain the same. Dr. Catlett said over the year’s there have been increases and they did not know whether it was recession or other causes for those increases. New Middle School. Ms. Boyd updated the Council on why the school board recommended a new middle school instead of a new elementary schools. She said a new middle school would help with the middle school overcrowding and the current middle school would be used for a third elementary school to help alleviate crowding in the elementary schools. Ms. Boyd said they thought it would be more cost effective and the responsible thing to do would be to build a new middle school. Vice-Chair Ms. Pomeroy said this was a way to repurpose a building that they already have. Councilor Withers explained that it was not a matter of whether a school was needed it was a matter of timing because the City have needs. Councilor Kelly asked if Walker-Grant had been considered being used as a Workforce Development location. He said Workforce Development was important and could turn into a 2 regional program. Ms. Boyd said they had not considered that and they would still need a location for a third elementary school to help alleviate crowding. Dr. Cattlet said it was important to have a new elementary school because they could not properly educate the student with the crowding they have at the elementary level. Ms. Boyd said the priority has always been to have a third elementary school. Dr. Catlett said due to COVID there were funds that the schools may be able to use to renovate Walker-Grant into an elementary school. Councilor Devine expressed her concern that the cost to build a middle school was almost doubled the cost to build an elementary school. Ms. Boyd said she believed the cost were much closer than doubled. She said she would like to see how to make both elementary and the CTE program work. She did not want to lose one because the cost was too much for the other. Councilor Kelly said capital project costs were not much different but he reminded them that he operational cost would be significant. He said majority of any new money coming into the City would be shifted to schools and that was a lot because the City had so many other deferred capital projects. Councilor Kelly also asked if there were shared services that the City and schools could use to generate some savings. Councilor Kelly asked what was the schools going to do to address issues that were challenging the school system such as English as a second language, free lunch, special education, etc. Career and Technical Education Update. Mr. Baroody share that he, the City Council and the School Board had toured the Mary Washington Healthcare facility at 2300 Fall Hill Avenue as a possible CTE site but he was informed that was no longer an option because the hospital was planning to use the entire facility for their use. He said Dr. Catlett, Dr. Gullickson of Germanna and himself had been discussing a possible partnership. Mr. Baroody was looking for some guidance from the School Board and City Council as to whether they should continue discussions. Dr. Gullickson said it was clear that they could not keep up with workforce demands because the student who may be successful in the Career Technical Educational area were not being reached. She said if the School, the Council, and Germanna work together they could 3 better meet that need. She said this was a community problem and she could not wait to do this. New School Update. Dr. Eberhardt reviewed the timeline for the construction of a middle school which the schools would like to have that built within three years. He said using PPEA the process could be accelerated because some of the processes could be layered. He said they decided to start with a Request for Qualification (RFQ), then a Request for Proposal (RFP) which moves into detailed preliminary design and they plan to present that design to City Council in December. Three firms were selected and they were given an RFP, they returned their conceptual proposals and best guest estimates and they would be interviewed on September 22. Once the Committee selected a firm it would go to the School Board for approval then negotiations would begin on the Interim Agreement. After the approval of the interim agreement they would begin the detailed preliminary design which would allow a much more detailed cost, during that time they plan to hold community outbreak sessions to see what the community would like to see in the building. He said this would also be the time to get the cost limits out there. He said then this would be brought back to Council so they can see what it looks like and at that time a decision would be made as to whether to move forward with the Comprehensive Agreement. This agreement would get the ball rolling to have the school built by June 2024. Dr. Duffy asked if the elementary schools would be three kindergartens through fifth grade schools and Ms. Boyd said they had not made that decision yet. Councilor Duffy said he appreciated the work that had been done and for the schools recognizing that something needed to be done. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time. Mayor Greenlaw declared the session officially adjourned at 6:22 p.m. ______________________ Tonya B. Lacey, MMC Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 4