Re “School Board taking control of new building construction,” Free Press April 15-17 edition:

Members of the Richmond School Board are putting politics over people. 

The board’s vote on April 12, which was done without public notice or any input, made a change to the way that new schools are built and will delay the building of a new George Wythe High School. 

These games have been played with the George Wythe community before, with the community being told that they were on the list for a new building and then it was snatched away from them.

Mayor Levar M. Stoney, Richmond City Council and the School Board made a commitment to building a new school once and for all, with $100 million for school construction in this current capital budget. The process to start this new school was set to begin this summer until certain members of the School Board chose to put their own politics over the needs of our community. 

The School Board is neither prepared, nor does it have the funding, to take over school construction. It would require them to create a whole separate department and receive approval from the state. This would cost millions of unnecessary dollars and set Richmond back from building any new schools for years. 

Richmond students cannot afford to wait.

George Wythe already has been told once that it doesn’t matter. How can these School Board members, including our own 5th District representative, Stephanie M. Rizzi, tell them again they don’t matter now?

Tell the School Board to start focusing on getting our kids back to school safely, healing the disparities in our school system and allocating every last dollar directly to teachers, students and instruction and not into top heavy administrative functions.

Let the city continue its commitment to funding new buildings and building them and let them use our existing resources, which has enabled us to build three new beautiful new schools and more to come. 

Tell our School Board to stop focusing on politics and things outside their purview and focus on the people that matter most—the young people and families of Richmond Public Schools.

REV. ROBIN MINES

Richmond