PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Those in charge of approving next year's Portsmouth Public Schools budget will get a first-hand look at two schools in desperate need of repair.
Monday night, the Portsmouth School Board and Portsmouth City Council are holding a joint meeting which will included a tour of the aging Churchland Middle School and Churchland Elementary School.
“The divided classroom was peculiar. I don’t know how one teaches in competition with another class," said Portsmouth Mayor John Rowe.
The school division says a third-party firm recently recommended both schools be significantly renovated or replaced; projects that are in Superintendent Dr. Elie Bracy's long-term plan to improve school buildings.
Dr. Bracy said the first priority for the district is to build a new middle school to move 6th graders out of the elementary schools.
With the budget in the hands of the school board and city council, Mayor Rowe said he'll do what he can to honor the superintendent's request.
The school board will discuss the budget next month before it is sent to city council for approval.
