Virginia Beach school board to hold public hearing on merging two Bayside schools – The Virginian-Pilot

The Virginia Beach School Board will hold a public hearing Wednesday to gain input on a plan to consolidate Bayside 6th Grade Campus and Bayside Middle School.

The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Bayside Middle, 965 Newtown Road. Anyone interested in speaking at the hearing should contact the board clerk at 757-263-1016.

The hearing comes after a unanimous Oct. 8 board vote to prioritize replacing Princess Anne High School, which is about 70 years old. The high school is one of the division’s highest candidates for replacement, according to a 2017 long-range facilities plan.

The Bayside 6th Grade Campus and Bettie F. Williams Elementary are also on the list. Both are more than 60 years old. Discussions about priority construction projects have been ongoing for months.

The proposed changes to Bayside, which first came up during a spring board meeting, would move sixth graders back to the Bayside Middle School campus, which currently houses seventh and eighth graders. The changes would take effect in 2025-26.

A separate sixth-grade campus was established in 2014 because the middle school was not meeting pass rates on English and reading tests and was at risk of losing accreditation. The split led to smaller class sizes, among other things — and test pass rates rose at the campuses.

However, administrators told board members this year that they are confident students would continue to do well if moved back into the middle school because of added support such as instructional coaches, new teaching strategies, additional funds and a more involved community.

The board will vote on the Bayside proposal at its Nov. 12 meeting.

Nour Habib, [email protected]