THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411110319
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
Recent media coverage of the Virginia Beach School Board's actions in securing a site for the relocation of Linkhorn Park Elementary School may have left the public with some misconceptions about the site-selection process. To clarify, I would like to present the situation from the perspective of a School Site Selection Committee member.
The community's interest in keeping Oceana Naval Air Station active and the approval of the City Council led the School Board to direct the School Site Selection Committee to investigate sites that would relocate the school outside the accident-potential zone while maintaining reasonable proximity to the present school site. This area of Virginia Beach is highly developed; therefore, the number of suitable sites is limited.
The School Board is specifically permitted by state statute to maintain confidentiality in the purchase of land. There is no ``secrecy,'' but there is confidentiality in all discussions of site-acquisition matters to prevent unwarranted price escalations. I believe the interests of taxpayers are served well by this practice in matters of site acquisition. The necessity for confidentiality limits what School Board members feel comfortable in stating about site acquisition to the media, but we welcome comments from the public through all our established arenas.
I might add, responsible media coverage should concentrate on giving the public correct information rather than on sensationalizing one or two aspects of these very serious deliberations about the future of Virginia Beach.
Robert W. Hall
Virginia Beach MEMO: Mr. Hall is a member of the Virginia Beach School Board and a member
of the School Board Site Selection Committee. by CNB