THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409140211
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
Once the School Board draws lines on a map establishing attendance zones for the new Hickory High School, you can bet students and parents affected by the change are going to have plenty to say about it.
But Monday night, when citizens were invited to contribute thoughts about the new attendance zones, nobody showed up - not a solitary soul.
There being no one to hear at the public hearing, board members could only speculate about what the will of the people might be.
Is loyalty to the established school so strong that students in Great Bridge would prefer to stay there even though it is uncomfortably crowded? Or would they prefer to transfer to the roomy, new school in Hickory even if it meant a long bus trip out of their neighborhood?
School Board members have their own thoughts about what's best. They seem to be leaning toward moving a large number of students to the new school from areas like Great Bridge Gardens, Bridgefield and Caroon Farms.
Will folks in those areas be satisfied with this approach? At this point, the board's guess is as good as anybody's.
There are two more scheduled hearings on the issue - one on Oct. 10 and one on Nov. 14. It would be helpful if citizens spoke up then rather than waiting until the decision is made to gripe about it. by CNB