THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409250046
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Long : 163 lines
The grapevine grading system in South Hampton Roads regards public schools here as an academic wasteland.
Critics point to Suffolk's consistently low test scores, rural character and aging schools as reasons for parents to make a beeline to private academies.
And many have taken the advice.
Census records show that 11 percent of Suffolk's children are in private schools - the highest percentage in any South Hampton Roads city.
Yet bad publicity hasn't stopped new residents from enrolling their kids in Suffolk's public schools. Moreover, some observers say the pattern of suburbanization could result in additional support for public schools among the city's growing middle class.
Cavan and Eartha Garrett moved from Portsmouth last summer to Suffolk's Burbage Lake subdivision near the I-664 corridor. Almost everything they had heard or read indicated that Suffolk schools were a ticket to Stupidville.
``The schools were our biggest fear before we even decided to buy,'' said Eartha Garrett, whose two sons now attend Florence Bowser Elementary. ``It's like everyone thinks of Suffolk as `the country' and figures they're way behind.
``But once I got out there and checked the school out for myself, I felt a lot more comfortable. Now, it's a matter of staying on top of things to make sure everything goes right.''
Two years ago, John C. Quattlebaum, a retired military instructor, moved to the Warrington development off Bennetts Pasture Road. He's now studying to earn a teaching certificate with the goal of working in Suffolk.
``The schools are fine. I have three children in them and two are in the gifted and talented program,'' he said. ``I'm quite pleased. The big thing in any school district is getting parents involved.''
Although several were concerned about the degree of classroom technology or a lack of air conditioning in some schools, about a dozen parents interviewed for this article said the district isn't as ``bad'' or ``backward'' as they had heard.
And they said they're willing to give it a shot. The early nod of approval is heartening, Superintendent Beverly B. Cox III said.
``When people get into our schools, they have a better feeling about them,'' he said. ``. . . I'm excited about the increased interest that I'm seeing in public education (in Suffolk). I think that will lead to better schools.''
Any middle-class movement into a school district is important. Not only does it expand the revenue pot for education, but it can also swell the ranks of public-school advocates.
Almost all of the parents interviewed said they would play major roles in schools, if for no other reason than to make sure their children weren't being shortchanged.
``Middle class tends to mean higher levels of education,'' said Frank E. Barham, executive director of the Virginia School Boards Association in Charlottesville. ``They're the type of people who go to the school board meetings to demand programs and services.''
They're increasingly moving to Suffolk, a city of 52,141 residents spread across 430 square miles.
Last year, permits for single-family homes in Suffolk jumped a record 71 percent. Over the next decade, the school district's enrollment is expected to climb 8 percent - behind Chesapeake, at 19 percent, and Virginia Beach, at 14 percent, state officials predict.
Upscale subdivisions and more open space aren't the only things attracting new residents to Suffolk.
``We wanted a more rural environment for our kids. You don't really hear about guns in schools out here or severe overcrowding as often as you do in Virginia Beach, for example,'' said Helen Sheaves who, with her husband, Robert, and two children, moved from the Beach to the Harbour View area about three months ago.
``Quite obviously there hasn't been a lot of money for upgrading all of the schools. But to me, that's secondary if good things are going on inside the building.''
Carla Sill moved from Chesapeake last year to the Burnetts Mill neighborhood. Her two school-age sons, one of whom has a learning disability, aren't being deprived academically, she said.
``It's a good school, a small school with a family atmosphere,'' she said, referring to Elephant's Fork Elementary near downtown Suffolk. But Sill, a PTA activist, is used to naysayers, like the doctor who questioned how she could ever be satisfied with a Suffolk public school.
Suffolk is trying hard to throw off its reputation as a district of dunces. Part of that reputation is rooted in annual standardized test scores.
Overall, Suffolk students' scores on the state-mandated Iowa Test of Basic Skills are among the worst in the region. And academic failure often comes early.
The state's latest report card for the district, using data from the 1992-93 year, showed that 14 percent of fourth-graders had been held back at least once, compared to a 4 percent average statewide. Kids who fall behind early in school are considered at high risk of dropping out later.
However, such districtwide numbers overshadow pockets of excellence. There are success stories, too.
The number of Suffolk sixth-graders who passed all three sections of the Literacy Passport Test on their first try, for instance, jumped 13 percentage points from 1990-91 to 1992-93. Although the district's pass rate for sixth-graders dipped slightly during the past school year, no other South Hampton Roads district has shown as much improvement on the literacy test, which measures how well schools are teaching basic skills.
The administration has made curriculum changes aimed at making learning easier, such as incorporating everyday objects in math lessons so students can grasp abstract concepts more quickly.
``A lot of time people compare us to districts that have families who can do a lot more for their children,'' said kindergarten teacher Gail Davies, who herself attended Suffolk public schools. ``Sometimes our kids just need time to catch up.''
Suffolk has lagged behind other districts in getting computers into its schools, but Cox is trying to get more students hooked up.
Each of the city's elementary schools got a new Macintosh computer lab this year. The district's next step is to put a computer in each classroom and then connect those computers to larger networks, Cox said. A June 1993 analysis by The Virginian-Pilot found that the ratio of students to computers was 39-to-1 in Suffolk, much worse than the other area cities.
Research shows that plugging technology into the classroom motivates youngsters and helps raise grades and test scores.
In some cases, though, swollen class sizes have been more troublesome than schools that remained stubbornly low-tech. Large classes, especially in the primary grades, had plagued the district for some time, Cox said.
Such a pattern can be devastating in a district like Suffolk, which doesn't have a preschool program for at-risk children and sees hundreds of them begin school ill-prepared, only to be placed in classes too large for teachers to make a real difference.
The high percentage of over-age fourth-graders is one result. At a public hearing this past spring, a parent of two elementary school children called the situation a ``crisis.''
Extra state money will allow Suffolk to create a special program for disadvantaged 4-year-olds in the 1995-96 school year. With the help of state funding this year, Suffolk was able to hire 22 more teachers and reduce class sizes in kindergarten through third grade.
Aging school buildings also hurt Suffolk's image over the years. Some schools simply don't have curbside appeal, parents said.
When Robert Sheaves, a lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard, saw John Yeates Middle School his first thought was: ``Decrepit.''
Excluding the two new high schools and three elementary schools built in 1979, the average age of a city school is 37 - a time when school maintenance needs increase rapidly. Six of the older schools were expanded in the 1960s and '70s, but no schools have been renovated.
The district's capital-improvement plan, however, earmarks $18 million for construction and improvements over the next five years. The package includes $6 million for a state-of-the-art elementary school scheduled to open by fall 1996.
City leaders say public schools won't be forgotten as Suffolk begins to prosper financially from a bigger tax base.
``If we're going to create jobs, diversify the economy and attract businesses, we have to have a good school system,'' Mayor S. Chris Jones said. ``We're committed to making sure the system gets what it needs.''
Parents new to the district say the proof will be in the pudding.
``In a way, you could say we have a wait-and-see attitude,'' Eartha Garrett said. ``I feel my children will get what they need here, but if I see that they aren't getting that or the schools aren't a priority the way they should be, I won't sit back doing nothing.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
STAFF
AREA SCHOOLS AT A GLANCE
SOURCES: 1990 U.S. Census; state Department of Education - 1994
Outcome Accountability Project report.
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: SCHOOLS HAMPTON ROADS TIDEWATER
STATISTICS by CNB