Mathews residents steaming over proposed middle school closing

VIENNA — Nearly 70 people, most of them parents of Mathews School District students told the board of education in no uncertain terms Tuesday night that they are against closing Neal Middle School in September and moving its seventh- and eighth-graders into Mathews High School.

The group crowded into the high school cafeteria for the board’s second work session of the month to discuss options for moving the students. No one in the audience spoke in favor of the plans.

“We feel like this decision is being rushed and you’re scrambling to put a square peg in a round circle,” said Kathleen DiTomasso, one of the parents.

Superintendent Lee Seiple had presented a new option in which several rooms in the high school would be modified to house the middle school students without the board having to purchase modular classrooms. Seiple said this new plan would cost “less than the modular,” but when he admitted he could not present exact cost figures, several of the parents became angry.

“[Your] homework hasn’t been done,” said parent Mark Grimes. “We want accurate numbers and hard core facts.”

“If you close Neal, you will lose the opportunity to pass that renewal levy,” said Michael Kennedy, a junior varsity baseball coach, to the applause of the audience. The district has a reduced replacement levy of 7.8 mills on the May ballot.

Many of the parents objected to the “co-mingling” of middle school and high school students.