City Schools Receives $1 Million Donation from Larry Silver
Gift will go towards establishment of a career and technical center.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Fredericksburg City Public Schools has received a $1 million donation from local developer and alum Larry Silver, representing the largest donation the school division has ever received.
“This is a massive investment on the Fredericksburg of tomorrow,” School Board Chair Matt Rowe said in a press release.
The School Board approved a contract between Silver and the school division on Monday. The funds are earmarked for supporting career and technical education in the division and will be kept by the Fredericksburg Education Foundation until “such time that a CTE Center concept is developed and a facility built,” the press release states.
The school division has been working to enhance its CTE program since 2019. Plans for the new middle school now under construction in the Idlewild neighborhood include space for classes in family and consumer science, technology, health, and entrepreneurship.
Plans for the CTE program at James Monroe High School include criminal justice, culinary, drafting, early childhood, emergency medicine, energy, geospatial, JROTC, manufacturing, mechatronics, and trades such as HVAC, electricity, and plumbing.
The division is building work-based learning opportunities and community partnerships and is planning to introduce more related programming next school year, according to the press release.
School Board Vice Chair Katie Pomeroy said that “in a changing world, there needs to be so many more options for career paths.”
“There’s not just one journey to happiness in life,” she said. “And I do think that giving our children these kinds of opportunities will make a big difference.”
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The donation has a caveat that $100K a year for 10 years will be placed into an Education foundation fund to be held for a CTE Center and released after the building is built provided the name of the CTE Center is Larry Silver.