New ‘Roots’ for new generation
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Richmond Free Press © 2016 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 25 NO. 23
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
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Meet Richmond schools’ highest achiever B1
June 2-4, 2016
No $ to fix schools By Jeremy M. Lazarus
The same rundown buildings that many Richmond students attend are likely to be the same buildings where a new crop of students will be attending class 10 years from now. Unless Richmond eliminates other planned projects to focus on schools, finds a new source of revenue or raises taxes significantly, the City of Richmond would not be able to afford to renovate or replace those buildings. That’s the grim conclusion of a new study from David Rose of Davenport & Co., the city’s financial adviser. That’s also a nightmare scenario to Tommy
Mr. Kranz
“I don’t know whether we’ll be able to keep the buildings open.”
“What I have seen places our staff and students in extreme danger,” she said in her email accompanying the information to her colleagues and Dr. Bedden. “Male students are dragging female students down the hallway by their hair, hitting them in the chest, punching them in the rear end and nothing is being done. The students are sent back to their classrooms.” In emotional remarks during the board’s May 16 meeting, Ms. Harris-Muhammed detailed her understanding of the problems at the school that she said were serious and pervasive enough to warrant public discussion. “I respect everybody on this board. I love you dearly, but when a teacher gets pushed so hard that her head hits the back of a door and
added classroom space at overcrowded schools on South Side, he said. Little was left to make improvements to other school buildings. During the five-year period between 2017 and 2021, the city plans to borrow $318 million to spend on approved projects for parks, streets, roads, city buildings and a host of other needs. However, just $14 million would be devoted to general school maintenance during that period. That’s slightly less than $3 million year to deal with the multitude of problems that afflict the school system’s 40 aging buildings. Mayor Dwight C. Jones averaged $3 million a year for school maintenance during his eight-year tenure, separate and apart from the $19 million spent to ensure schools meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and the $196 million spent on four new schools. The $14 million is definitely far less than $94 million the Richmond School Board requested for the five-year period, which also was well short of the $169.8 million the board’s own reports show actually would be needed. Mayor Jones commissioned the Davenport study in hopes of creating a multi-year plan to fund school needs before he leaves office. The study is now in the hands of City Council. According to the study, the $318 approved for all city projects, and likely to be borrowed, essentially will max out the city’s credit card through 2021 under its current borrowing policy, which limits total debt to 10 percent of the combined operating and school budgets. Taking on that debt alone would require the city to shift $18 million a year to debt service by 2022 to cover the cost of repaying principle and interest. The city could loosen its conservative policy to take on more debt — potentially an additional $200 million, the study noted.
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Kranz, Richmond Public Schools’ assistant superintendent for operations. “I don’t know whether we’ll be able to keep the buildings open,” Mr. Kranz said, worried about failing air conditioning and heating systems,
MLK Middle not living up to his name By Malik Russell
Richmond School Board member Shonda Harris-Muhammed is calling on her colleagues and Superintendent Dana T. Bedden to stem a tide of alleged violence and assaults at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in the East End. In a recent Free Press interview, Ms. Harris-Muhammed, who represents the 6th District where the school is located, said more than 10 teachers and staff members from the school contact her regularly about their fears for their safety and that of others. An email she received from teachers at the school included photos and a video of incidents that she shared with members of the School Board and Dr. Bedden in early May.
leaking roofs and a host of other problems he might not be able to afford to deal with. Richmond City Council shifted an additional $19 million to schools this year, but virtually all of it had to be spent to lease or buy trailers for
Groups unite for slavery memorial in Shockoe Bottom By Malik Russell
The push to create a memorial to slavery in Shockoe Bottom took another step forward this week as national groups joined with local activists. The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Dr. Max Page of the University of Massachusetts Center for Design Engagement are collaborating with the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project to hold
a series of community meetings this week that will culminate in a new and sharper proposal for the Shockoe Bottom slavery memorial. The groups will reveal the proposals 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 3, at the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia, 122 W. Leigh St., in Richmond’s Jackson Ward. The meeting is open to the public. “This is not just a local Richmond story. It’s also compelling
City goes dim on solar streetlights By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones has boasted many times during the last seven years about the solar streetlights that were installed in a West End neighborhood with taxpayers’ dollars. He has cited the 21 solar streetlights in Randolph West as an important example of his commitment to “greening” the city and reducing the city’s impact on the environment, particularly its carbon emissions. But outside the public view, the Jones administration no longer regards solar streetlights as the wave of the future and blocked their use in other city-supported neighborhoods, such as Highland Grove, the replacement for Dove Court in North Side. As for Randolph West, Robert Steidel, director of the city’s Department of Public Utilities, wants to replace the solar lights in the 70-home development with standard Please turn to A4
as a national story,” said Dr. Page. “I think it is probably the most important undiscovered or untold site about slavery and its lasting impact up to the present.” Others agree. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named Shockoe Bottom “a national treasure.” “A unique part of American history happened at Shockoe Bottom and it has nearly been forgotten,” said Rob Nieweg, senior field director and attorney for the national trust. “Shockoe Bottom should be treated as a site of conscience, a place where modern-day discussions can go on about the legacy of slavery and the things impacting our communities today. We see it both as an extremely important place for the past but also for its role in the future.” The Massachusetts group Please turn to A4
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Cruising Under the watchful eye of her father, Tommy Davis, young Luci cruises on her bicycle along the 500 block of South Davis Avenue during a sunny spell on Memorial Day weekend in the West End. Please see additional holiday photos, Page B3.
Study shows some children don’t visit doctors despite having insurance Free Press staff report
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Solar streetlights line the sidewalks and alleys in Randolph West, a neighborhood in the city’s West End. These lights are in an alley between the 1600 block of Jacqueline and Kemper streets.
A majority of Richmond children from low-income families apparently are not getting annual checkups from doctors, even though the children have health insurance through Medicaid or other programs that would cover the cost. The result: Many youngsters are dogged by obesity or other treatable physical and mental health problems that are never dealt with, disrupting their education and well-being. That finding emerges from an East End pilot program led by a Richmond pediatrician, Dr. Joseph W. Boatwright III, and the former coordinator of an East End health outreach program, Dr. Richard Seely, who has a doctorate in business
administration. Their findings take on more significance as the city prepares to join the Invest Health initiative, which seeks to bring together public and private health entities to address health issues. Dr. Seely said that Dr. Boatwright until this study, he had no idea that so many children were not going to the doctor for yearly physicals. He said that also often applies to dental care. He thought he knew what was going on, having spent six years developing cooking, exercise and educational programs
encouraging healthy behavior that touched 3,000 people a year through partnerships with community groups, churches and health care providers. However, he said the study showed that such programs just scratch the surface and do not address the health disparities that result in East End residents living shorter lives compared with people in other parts of the city. Dr. Boatwright and Dr. Seely believe the key to resolving the problem is to work with respected leaders who have relationships with families living in public housing or low-income communities. While many people and groups are working to improve health care, most do not have Please turn to A4