Friday, September 28, 2012
Richmond School Board: Do Norrell Elementary preschoolers need gas masks more than backpacks?
Multiply your impact
Richmond School Board: Do Norrell Elementary preschoolers need gas masks more than backpacks?
by Kim Allen
Richmond, VA
Turn your signature into dozens more by sharing this petition and recruiting people you know to sign.
Norrell Elementary, the school where my four-year-old nephew (in the
photo above) would have been assigned to start preschool on Monday, was
built on a landfill as a separate school for black children and has been
shut down twice for being unsafe. Yet, without any opportunity for
public input, the Richmond School Board is continuing a long legacy of
racism and environmental pollution associated with Norrell by re-opening
the school.
The Richmond School District is now sending more than 200 students, just like my nephew, to Norrell Elementary.
This is inexcusable.
When we send our kids off to school, we should be able to focus on what they'll be learning, not the levels of pollution they'll be exposed to. Students deserve a safe place to learn.
Residents have long been warning this school is unsafe. Norrell Elementary was built on a landfill. It was created to appease blacks in an attempt to defy the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education's court ruling to desegrate schools. It was closed in 1975 because of poisonous methane gas buildup from the landfill. The district installed an underground venting system and in-class methane monitors, and Norrell was reopened two years later.
But, despite assurances from officials that the site was safe, an analysis in 2000 showed that one of the wells that fed flares to burn excess gas registered potentially explosive methane levels. The school was finally closed in 2006 after damage from Tropical Storm Ernesto.
Now, there are questions about the methane monitoring system, the testing that has been done, and if our kids will really be safe in Norrell.
But we were not given an opportunity to ask those questions. Unlike how other school moves have been handled -- with months of meetings and notice -- the decision to move young students, who are predominately low-income children of color, into Norell Elementary was made without public input. Every community, including ours, deserves a voice.
We demand that all children -- regardless of how much money their families have or the color of their skin -- be given a healthy and safe place to learn. Please, tell the Richmond School District to find a safe place for the students at Norrell Elementary. Create another option.
The Richmond School District is now sending more than 200 students, just like my nephew, to Norrell Elementary.
This is inexcusable.
When we send our kids off to school, we should be able to focus on what they'll be learning, not the levels of pollution they'll be exposed to. Students deserve a safe place to learn.
Residents have long been warning this school is unsafe. Norrell Elementary was built on a landfill. It was created to appease blacks in an attempt to defy the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education's court ruling to desegrate schools. It was closed in 1975 because of poisonous methane gas buildup from the landfill. The district installed an underground venting system and in-class methane monitors, and Norrell was reopened two years later.
But, despite assurances from officials that the site was safe, an analysis in 2000 showed that one of the wells that fed flares to burn excess gas registered potentially explosive methane levels. The school was finally closed in 2006 after damage from Tropical Storm Ernesto.
Now, there are questions about the methane monitoring system, the testing that has been done, and if our kids will really be safe in Norrell.
But we were not given an opportunity to ask those questions. Unlike how other school moves have been handled -- with months of meetings and notice -- the decision to move young students, who are predominately low-income children of color, into Norell Elementary was made without public input. Every community, including ours, deserves a voice.
We demand that all children -- regardless of how much money their families have or the color of their skin -- be given a healthy and safe place to learn. Please, tell the Richmond School District to find a safe place for the students at Norrell Elementary. Create another option.
Petition Letter
Greetings,I just signed the following petition addressed to: Richmond School Board.
----------------
Send the preschoolers of Norrell Elementary to a safe school
Norrell Elementary, the school where my four-year-old nephew (in the photo above) would have been assigned to start preschool on Monday, was built on a landfill as a separate school for black children and has been shut down twice for being unsafe. Yet, without any opportunity for public input, the Richmond School Board is continuing a long legacy of racism and environmental pollution associated with Norrell by re-opening the school.
The Richmond School District is now sending more than 200 students, just like my nephew, to Norrell Elementary.
This is inexcusable.
When we send our kids off to school, we should be able to focus on what they'll be learning, not the levels of pollution they'll be exposed to. Students deserve a safe place to learn.
Residents have long been warning this school is unsafe. Norrell Elementary was built on a landfill. It was created to appease blacks in an attempt to defy the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education's court ruling to desegrate schools. It was closed in 1975 because of poisonous methane gas buildup from the landfill. The district installed an underground venting system and in-class methane monitors, and Norrell was reopened two years later.
But, despite assurances from officials that the site was safe, an analysis in 2000 showed that one of the wells that fed flares to burn excess gas registered potentially explosive methane levels. The school was finally closed in 2006 after damage from Tropical Storm Ernesto.
Now, there are questions about the methane monitoring system, the testing that has been done, and if our kids will really be safe in Norrell.
But we were not given an opportunity to ask those questions. Unlike how other school moves have been handled -- with months of meetings and notice -- the decision to move young students, who are predominately low-income children of color, into Norell Elementary was made without public input. Every community, including ours, deserves a voice.
We demand that all children -- regardless of how much money their families have or the color of their skin -- be given a healthy and safe place to learn. Please, tell the Richmond School District to find a safe place for the students at Norrell Elementary. Create another option.
----------------
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)