Richmond Schools Superintendent Dana T. Bedden wore an incredulous look when two members of the School Board tried to scuttle an agreement aimed at putting the city’s worst middle school, Fred D. Thompson, on the road to regaining accreditation.

“This is something we have to do,” he told the two members, Shonda Harris-Muhammed, 6th District, and Tichi Pinkney Eppes, 9th District, after they voted against an agreement accepting state oversight of the South Side school and promising development of a specific improvement plan.

The agreement ultimately passed, 3-2, with four board members absent, but the split vote came as a surprise at the board meeting Monday night in the City Council chambers.

Thompson Middle has been denied accreditation as the result of too few students passing state Standards of Learning tests in each of the past four years — despite millions of dollars in federal grants being spent on state-recommended consultants and teacher and staff training.

Dr. Bedden pressed the two women to explain why they sought to kill the agreement with the Virginia Board of Education that spells out the general process that will be followed in the latest effort to turn around educational performance at Thompson. Under state law, state educational officials are empowered to oversee the work local officials are doing to improve student achievement after a school is denied accreditation.

Ms. Harris-Muhammed became agitated when Dr. Bedden questioned her vote on the agreement, called a memorandum of understanding or MOU. She said she was disturbed that he would confront her publicly. She repeatedly said the only way she would explain is if she could do so in private.

Ms. Pinkney Eppes told a Free Press reporter after the vote that she opposed the MOU because it did not include an option for parents to send their children to another middle school. She said parents shouldn’t be forced to send their “children to an unaccredited school. A large percentage of the children that attend Thompson live in the 9th District.” The school is on Forest Hill Avenue.

“I also voted no,” she said, “as a result of the piecemeal fashion in which the information about the academic standing of all of the schools is being trickled down to all board members. It is my belief that is because this is a school in the 4th District and that this bad news could negatively impact the political standing of that community and the representative and it was hidden like a dirty little secret with no discussion until the last minute.”

Board Vice Chairman Kristen N. Larson, whose 4th District includes Thompson, responded to Ms. Pinkney Eppes’ comments.

“I received the information about Thompson the same time as everybody else — on the School Board website and in the information we received” at Monday night’s meeting, Ms. Larson told the Free Press.

“I voted for the MOU because I want to support the school and do everything I can in my capacity as a board member and as a representative of the district,” Ms. Larson added. “By entering into this agreement with the state, we’re increasing accountability. I guess when you don’t support the mechanisms that are in place to move the school in a positive direction, it just adds confusion.”

Glen Sturtevant, 1st District, and Dr. Derik Jones, 8th District, joined Ms. Larson in supporting the MOU — clearing the way for it to be sent to the state board for approval.

School Board Chairman Donald Coleman, 7th District, was not at the meeting. Three other members attended but were not present for the vote: Kim B. Gray, 2nd District; Mamie L. Taylor, 5th District; and Jeff M. Bourne, 3rd District, who had to leave the meeting early.

Dr. Bedden said the Virginia Board of Education would cast a wary eye on the Richmond board’s lukewarm endorsement of the MOU.

“We are getting dangerously close to a district-level review,” a visibly frustrated Dr. Bedden warned.

According to the state board’s accreditation regulations, if it determines a school division has failed or refused to comply with its Standards of Quality, the state board could undertake a division-level academic review and also could petition the Circuit Court to enforce compliance. The state board has never gone to court to force compliance.

In contrast, the Henrico School Board unanimously voted 5-0 last Thursday to approve its MOU with the state board for its first school to be denied accreditation, L. Douglas Wilder Middle School.

The MOU regarding Thompson Middle School is up for final review and approval at the meeting of the state board scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 20, according to Charles Pyle, a spokesman with the Virginia Department of Education.

The district’s specific plan to turn around Thompson is to be finalized by Jan. 15, according to Cletisha Lovelace, a Richmond Public Schools spokesperson.

Another hot-button issue at the board meeting was the future of Binford Middle School, the sparsely populated school in The Fan.

The school can accommodate up to 700 students, but recently reported just 214.

Abe Jeffers, the executive director of Richmond secondary schools, offered four options to make better use of the Binford building.

They are:

• Moving tiny Open High School, currently located in Oregon Hill, into the Thompson building and adding three middle school grades to transform the school into the first combination secondary school with grades six through 12;

• Making Binford an arts school offering music, theater, dance and other performing arts programs along with regular academic courses;

• Turning Binford into a specialty school offering only the International Baccalaureate program for college-bound students.

• Implementing a program to encourage city students to go to college, called College SpringBoard.

Binford would cease to exist as a regular middle school with the implementation of any of the four options, Mr. Jeffers said.

He said another option is to rezone Binford to add more students to its district.

One way or the other, Binford is going to face major changes, Dr. Bedden said.

“It’s our most under-enrolled school,” he said. “We have to do something to maximize effective use of the school. Something has to happen.” 

Dr. Bedden also took exception when Ms. Taylor claimed he and his mostly new leadership team were not well versed enough on the Binford situation to remedy the problem and that the school’s enrollment intentionally was made low.

“I was brought here to improve academic performance,” he said. “I’m giving you options.

“Give me some respect to be the educational leader and do my job. That’s all I ask.”

Board members agreed to share the alternative Binford plans with their constituents and to hold further discussions before reaching a final decision.