DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997                TAG: 9704240366

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: EDUCATION 

                                            LENGTH:   84 lines

EYES AND EARS

PORTSMOUTH

. . . Chow time

Portsmouth's School Board recently voted to increase the maximum daily rate for meals the district will pay for when employees travel out of town. The change also applies to the nine board members themselves.

In recent years, some board members have raised concerns about district employees having to hunt for bargain-basement meals in high-cost cities where educational conferences are often held.

The district's previous rates varied significantly, with some states considered more expensive for dining.

The maximum daily meal subsidy in Wisconsin, for instance, had been $26; that compared with $34 in D.C.

There are now two maximum rates: $34 and $39.

The $39 rate applies to places board members voted to identify as ``high-cost'' areas.

Among the high-cost areas identified: Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and. . . Portsmouth.

Portsmouth? Chesapeake?

Board members Mary L. Curran and Chairman Byron P. Kloeppel voted against the changes.

- Vanee Vines

On second thought. . . Last week, the State Council of Higher Education prepared to begin perhaps the most important closed session in recent memory.

Council member Donald Patten, a Newport News attorney, read a motion to convene in closed session to discuss ``personnel.'' A reporter at the meeting requested that the motion be more specific, to conform to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

``We're not doing that,'' huffed council member Lynn Hopewell, a Northern Virginia investment adviser who is a Portsmouth native.

Maureen Riley Matsen, a lawyer in the state attorney general's office, was sitting in on the meeting. (Last month, she led a session on how to comply with the FOI law during an orientation for university board members in Virginia.) Four of the 11 state council members, including Patten, are also lawyers. But no one, including Matsen, had a copy of the law and no one was quite sure how to proceed.

The meeting broke up for about 20 minutes, as officials tried to find a copy. Finally, one was pulled off the Internet.

The motion did have to be more detailed, the law said. Patten restated the motion, to discuss ``the employment contract of Dr. Davies, which expires at the end of June, and the potential of renewal.'' No objections.

Less than two hours later, the council returned to open session and voted to terminate the agency's director, Gordon Davies.

- Philip Walzer

Virginia Beach

One of those nights . . .

Omens come in all shapes and sizes. For state Board of Education Vice President Lil Tuttle, it was round. Mostly.

She got a flat tire on her way from her Richmond home to Virginia Beach for what promised to be a passionate public hearing on the board's proposed revisions to the Standards of Accreditation, the rules that govern how public schools operate. It made her 10 minutes late.

It could've been worse, she said as she begged the crowd's forgiveness, if not for the tire-changing assistance of ``a beautiful guardian angel in a military uniform named Phil.''

On top of that, she and other state education officials realized that there would be no way, even with a 3-minute limit on speakers, to squeeze in all 131 people who had signed up to speak without staying until 2 a.m. or so.

And it was a school night.

So she apologized again and said the first 75 or so who signed up would get to speak that night, the rest at a later hearing.

Speaker after speaker applauded the attempt to instill higher academic standards in the state's schools, then asked her to hold off on those standards, particularly when it came to increasing graduation requirements.

Low-achievers and special-needs students will give up on trying to graduate, they said. There won't be time to take vocational courses, or advanced courses, or electives in art, music or dance.

When Tuttle tried to clear up a misunderstanding about the proposal, a speaker at the lectern chastised her for taking up her talking time.

Tuttle asked one man who ran out of speaking time to write her with additional information.

``If you have an e-mail address, I'll send you a dissertation!'' the man exclaimed to laughter from the few remaining spectators.

- Matthew Bowers

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