Public meeting held on Ferlazzo school site; second public meeting April 16

Scores of area residents turned out at Hylton High School Monday night to hear the facts and offer feedback about options for the new school being built on the “Ferlazzo” site at Spriggs and Minnieville Roads.

School planning officials provided extensive details about the planning process and enrollment projections that are driving staff recommendations for use of the site.

The School Board must decide whether the building will house:
A Ferlazzo-area community elementary school, for which the site was originally proffered, and that had been included in the School Division’s Capital Improvement Program; or

The new home of the Porter Traditional School, allowing that school’s current site to be converted to an elementary school that would offer the fastest-possible relief to badly overcrowded schools along the I-95 corridor.

Community members offered strong opinions on both sides of the issue at the April 13 meeting.

The new school is set to open at the start of the 2016-17 school year. Plans for its use must be finalized soon to allow the building—modeled after Yorkshire Elementary School—to be properly configured.

The next public meeting is set for Thursday night, April 16, 7 p.m., at Freedom High School