THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 23, 1994                    TAG: 9406230425 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: B1    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940623                                 LENGTH: VIRGINIA BEACH 

BEACH MAY SHIFT FUNDS FOR REPAIRS TO COVER NEW SCHOOLS' CONSTRUCTION

The plan, approved by the School Board on Tuesday night, still must be reviewed by the City Council. But school officials say that if the council does not agree to shift the money, Ocean Lakes High and Larkspur Middle will open in September without computer systems for classrooms and administrative offices.

{REST} ``I don't think the people of Virginia Beach expect us to open new schools that way,'' Superintendent Sidney L. Faucette said.

Hal Canary, the school system's chief financial officer, attributed the overruns to ``unrealistic'' construction budgets for the new schools that were set when a sluggish economy had driven building costs down.

Now that costs have risen, Canary said, the $19.8 million allocated for Larkspur Middle and the $27.8 million allocated for Ocean Lakes High are not enough to outfit the schools with computer systems. Larkspur needs $500,000 more, and Ocean Lakes needs $1.2 million more, Canary said.

If the council approves the School Board's plan, the money would come out of a $10.1 million pot set aside for reroofing or new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units at 19 school buildings during the 1994-95 year. School officials said no decision has been made about which projects to delay.

Any money left over in July, when the budget year ends, could be used to recoup the $1.7 million and go ahead with the renovation projects, Canary said.

``It's robbing Peter to pay Paul all the way down the line,'' he said, adding that there's no other way to pay for the computers.

Robert W. Hall, the only School Board member who voted against the proposal, said it is ``absolutely asinine'' to finance computers with capital-improvements money on which the city will have to pay interest.

``It is poor business sense to purchase short-term technology with long-term financing,'' Hall said.

City Council member John D. Moss said the cost overruns raise questions about the School Board's spending decisions.

``They made a mistake,'' he said. ``They should have tuned down the architecture on the schools to accommodate that.

``I suggest that we look at Ocean Lakes,'' he said. ``There were many opportunities for reducing the cost of construction of that school. And we can start with the flagpole.''

The Ocean Lakes High flagpole, which sits atop a steel steeple-shaped tower on the roof and electronically unfurls the American flag, cost a little more than $42,000.

``I think it's excessive,'' Moss said. ``Who pays? The older schools, with all their needs, shouldn't be the ones who pay.''

Faucette has called the flagpole purchase ``ridiculous.'' But he said that it was approved by an assistant superintendent whose contract has since been terminated and that it was unfair to criticize the school system for one such incident.

``I think that to say the flagpole means that we're making all bad decisions is an overgeneralization of all decision-making,'' he said.

by CNB