Page 7 - Fox Elementary News Today

A widening rift on the Richmond School Board leaves a critical problem unaddressed: the increasingly overcrowded River City Middle.

Former Clark Springs Elementary will be the new school for students after a massive fire in February destroyed Fox Elementary. Students have since been learning at a nearby church.

School and city officials are finalizing a compromise to begin design of a new George Wythe High School, first built as an all-white school in 1960, after decades of deferred maintenance.

Fox parents and people who live near the elementary school in Richmond's Fan District had hoped the building could be stabilized as soon as possible to prevent further damage.

Organizers said the hope is for Fox Elementary students and staff to enjoy the space when they move into Clark Springs as their temporary learning environment after a fire destroyed the historic school in February.

The Richmond Fire Department initially told CBS 6 during its first response to Fox that the fire alarm panel, which was in trouble condition, signaled zone 32. Fire officials said they didn't know what zone 32 meant at the time because firefighters couldn't get in touch with RPS personnel.

Many Richmond leaders said they left the joint council and school board meeting frustrated. The meeting featured two hours of debate of numbers, resources and questions of what is holding up the rebuilding process.

The CBS 6 Problem Solvers dug deeper into the contracts Richmond Schools has with the alarm monitoring company to try to figure out whose responsibility it was to reprogram the alarm panel.

More than a month after their school building was destroyed in a fire, Fox Elementary students and teachers return to in-person learning at First Baptist Church on Monument Avenue Monday.

The Richmond School Board voted at a meeting on Friday night to move forward with plans to repair Fox Elementary.