LYNCHBURG, Va. – A group of Lynchburg parents are suing the school board and superintendent following the decision to close two city elementary schools: Sandusky and T.C. Miller.
The board said the reason for the closure is consolidation to save money.
An appeal filed in Lynchburg Circuit Court is asking for the court to review and overturn the school board’s decision to close the two schools.
“Why would you close a place that is thriving so well,” said the mom of two T.C. Miller students, Carly Sheaffer.
Parents like Sheaffer are still up in arms over a month after the Lynchburg School Board voted to close T.C. Miller and Sandusky.
Taking matters into their own hands, a group of concerned parents and community members, calling themselves Save Our Schools Lynchburg, filed a lawsuit against the school board chair, Atul Gupta, and school superintendent, Dr. Crystal Edwards.
“We filed this appeal because this decision is riddled with inequities. It was put forth really quickly to serve a short-term problem with long-term impacts. And they didn’t take any community input,” said T.C. Miller alum, Nettie Webb.
In the lawsuit, the group claims the school board acted arbitrarily and lacked discretion while coming to this decision.
They said the school board did not include in their agenda that there would be a discussion on the master plan for the facilities.
They also said there was no educational study on how the closure could affect students.
“This was done so recklessly because it did not take the kids into account. When they found out that their school would be closing, they didn’t have a plan in place for the kids. The kids have no idea where they are going next year if their teachers or peers will be with them,” said Sheaffer.
Sheaffer and Webb’s group have also started a petition to save the schools, with over 2,000 signatures so far.
10 News reached out to Lynchburg City Schools about the appeal, and they said they will not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.