Education
Nearing 90th anniversary, Thomas Jefferson High School lacks basic necessities, equipment
“We’re always fundraising for the basics. At Maggie Walker, we’d fundraise for clubs, sports, all kinds of stuff. It wasn’t so the kids would have matching chairs, light bulbs or sanitary napkin boxes in the bathroom stalls. That’s just not what we did.”
From Style Weekly:
Thomas Jefferson High School soon will mark its 90th year. Located in the West End in an art deco building with a striking facade and complex interior, it serves students from all over Richmond, as well as offering specialties like International Baccalaureate programs.
The school is known for high administrative turnover and the same kind of poverty rates that plague many Richmond Public Schools. A recent online fundraising effort to replace broken furniture with modern tables, desks and chairs has sparked a conversation about the shortage of money for Thomas Jefferson. Now some parents are pushing the district to prioritize the school in its annual application for additional federal funding through Title I.
“We’re always fundraising for the basics,” says Betsy Milburn, whose daughter attends Thomas Jefferson. One of her older children attended Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, where she says fundraisers were vastly different. “At Maggie Walker we’d fundraise for clubs, sports, all kinds of stuff. It wasn’t so the kids would have matching chairs, light bulbs or sanitary napkin boxes in the bathroom stalls. That’s just not what we did.”
