Save Norfolk Highlands Primary

Keep School Open Take action Read the key facts Donate Our Recommended Path FOIA request Academic comparison Public comment Watch the work session

The issue

Chesapeake Public Schools is considering converting Norfolk Highlands Primary into a dedicated early childhood center. That would remove a neighborhood primary school, rezone local children, and bus preschool students into the neighborhood.

The ask

Pause the plan until CPS publishes the site-selection analysis, alternatives analysis, class-size projections, transportation model, building-suitability review, and source neighborhoods for preschool enrollment.

Community fund

Help fund records requests and lawn signs

Donations will be used for FOIA/request fees, copying costs, public-records follow-up, and lawn signs that say SaveNorfolkHighlands.com.

Donate with PayPal

$1,717.67 raised $1,500 goal

$1,717.67

$100
FOIA start

$300
records fund

$500
green zone

$750
sign run

$1,500
full push

Last updated: August 13, 2026. Current confirmed cash total: $1,717.67 after an additional $309.28 received since the previous update. This tracker is updated manually as donations are confirmed.

Yard sign update: The yard signs have arrived and are ready for distribution.

$100

Initial records requests

Submit targeted FOIA requests and cover small copying or search fees.

$300

FOIA response fund

Cover larger records responses, staff-time estimates, and follow-up requests.

$750

First lawn sign run

Order an initial batch of signs directing residents to SaveNorfolkHighlands.com.

$1,500

Expanded outreach

More signs, flyers, document hosting, and additional records requests if needed.

This is a community fund, not a tax-deductible charitable donation. Donations are sent by PayPal to ozanmertduran@gmail.com. See financial accountability →

Initial FOIA request

Read the focused records request asking CPS for the datasets, workpapers, capacity calculations, site-selection records, and cost support behind the Early Childhood Center presentation.

Read the FOIA request →

Public comment

Read the three-minute public comment asking the Board to pause the plan until CPS publishes the analysis behind the Norfolk Highlands Primary proposal.

Read the public comment →

Key concerns

No public alternatives analysis showing why Norfolk Highlands was chosen.
No classroom-by-classroom impact projections for receiving schools.
No public transportation analysis for busing local children out and preschool students in.
No published fire, evacuation, accessibility, bathroom, or playground suitability analysis for preschool use.
Declining enrollment could be used to reduce K-5 class sizes instead of pushing schools toward maximum capacity.
Norfolk Highlands families pay citywide school taxes but may lose a core neighborhood asset.

Contact the School Board

Ask the Board to pause the plan until CPS publishes the underlying data and alternatives analysis.

Email the full School Board

Emails included in the button

kim.scott@cpschools.com, mike.lamonea@cpschools.com, elijah.colon@cpschools.com, malia.huddle@cpschools.com, john.mccormick@cpschools.com, norman.pool@cpschools.com, amanda.quillin@cpschools.com, angie.swygert@cpschools.com, amanda.walker@cpschools.com

Suggested message

Members of the School Board,

Please pause the Norfolk Highlands Primary conversion plan until CPS publishes the site-selection analysis, alternatives analysis, current and projected class sizes by school and grade, transportation model, building-suitability review, fire and evacuation review, and the source neighborhoods for the proposed preschool students.

I support expanding early childhood education. The issue is whether Norfolk Highlands should lose a walkable neighborhood primary school before the public has seen the data behind that decision.

This decision will impact how I vote in November.

Respectfully,

even the broader funding math is small compared with CPS’s new costs.

The federal-only enrollment scenario is about $20,450 per year. Even if we use the full SchoolDigger per-pupil spending number and assume 10 students actually leave CPS entirely, the broader sensitivity check is about $161,550 per year.

For a $500,000 home, covering that broader $161,550 amount citywide would be about $1.97 per year.

By contrast, CPS’s own Early Childhood Center presentation shows the proposed preschool-center plan adding about $1.37 million to $1.53 million in net Year 1 operating cost, and about $863,000 to $996,000 in ongoing net operating cost.

Read the finance check →

NHP is not a weak school being rescued by rezoning.

Official VDOE SOL trend data shows that in 2024-25, Norfolk Highlands Primary outperformed Georgetown Primary, Sparrow Road Intermediate, and Thurgood Marshall Elementary in both English/Reading and Math.

This does not prove everything about school quality, but it is a serious warning sign: before CPS moves NHP students, CPS should publish the academic, staffing, class-size, transportation, and student-support impacts of the receiving-school plan.

See the academic comparison →

Latest website update

August 13, 2026: Rebuilt the homepage around the August 24 School Board meeting, added one-click RSVP + calendar support, embedded the August work-session exchange, linked The Virginian-Pilot's August 11 coverage, and updated the yard-sign status.

Time is up.