The Fredericksburg City School Board on Monday night approved a new zoning map for the city’s three elementary schools.
The map, said Deputy Superintendent Matt Eberhardt, is essentially identical to the version he presented during a September 2024 school board meeting, with one change: the Forest Village apartment complex off Fall Hill Avenue is now zoned for Lafayette Elementary School instead of Hugh Mercer Elementary.
That change was made for two reasons, Eberhardt said. The division was looking to both balance enrollment and reduce the spread in socioeconomic status index (SES) between schools.
Under the new zoning map, there will be a difference of just 33 students between the largest elementary school (Gladys West, 523) and the smallest (Hugh Mercer, 493). The September map would have resulted in a difference of 119 students.
The new map also reduces the spread in SES from a projected 12 points to four points.
Board member Katie Pomeroy (Ward 2) asked how new housing developments will affect enrollment numbers.
Eberhardt said that there are several housing developments slated for completion over the next three years, and that all of them will affect enrollment at Hugh Mercer.
“Hugh Mercer right now has the most classroom space, because of the learning cottages that are out on the periphery,” Eberhardt said. “If we’re going to have a place for growth, that’s probably the better place for it.”
Board member seeks clarification on proposed behavioral classroom
Malvina Rollins Kay has been hearing concerns from her Ward 4 constituents about a behavioral intervention classroom included in the division’s budget for fiscal year 2026.
The first thing I got was, ‘It sounds like a detention center,’ she said. “A full-blown presentation, I think, is warranted because it involves spending money on it.”
The classroom would serve students from all three of the city’s elementary schools at a cost of $220,000. Kay said that while she’s “totally against” the proposal, she wants to hear from mental health professionals on how it would affect students assigned to the classroom.
Board member Jennifer Boyd (Ward 3) said that any analysis of the proposal should include the impacts of not pulling out children with behavioral problems.
“When we had the crack epidemic, and we had those crack children going through the school system, they were so bad they couldn’t even sit still in the classroom,” Kay countered. “But we did not create [a classroom] or pull them out… It was done at a professional level.”
Board chair Matt Rowe (Ward 1) said the board will put the issue on the agenda for discussion at its May meeting.
Learning Lane reopens
FCPS Director of Operations Don Upperco appeared eager to offer one long-awaited facilities update.
“Mr. Rowe, Learning Lane is open now,” Upperco said of the road, which serves as the Route 1 entrance to both Lafayette Elementary and Walker-Grant Middle (soon to be Gladys West Elementary School).
Learning Lane closed in August 2024 for repairs that were originally slated to be completed in October. However, the scope of the repairs — particularly culvert pipes — resulted in substantial delays.
