At least one Isle of Wight County School Board member, and one supervisor, aren’t in favor of locating Westside Elementary’s replacement directly opposite Turner Drive from the existing Smithfield High School and Smithfield Middle School complex.
Replacing the 1960s-era Westside on West Main Street, listed as the School Board’s No. 2 priority behind in-progress school security upgrades, is tentatively scheduled to start during the 2025-26 school year. It was estimated as of November 2023 to cost $71 million but is budgeted at $50 million over the next two fiscal years in the county’s adopted 2024-25 budget and 10-year capital improvement plan.
“One thing I would not like to see is building another school on Turner Drive,” School Board member John Collick said at an Oct. 8 joint meeting of the School Board and county supervisors, contending the more than 150-square-mile attendance zone for the current Westside, Smithfield Middle and Smithfield High is resulting in school bus rides lasting more than an hour. Deputy Superintendent Susan Goetz confirmed some students are indeed spending an hour or more on school buses.