THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503310521
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
For the past week, city school administrators have been fending off a spate of rumors that they say has been remarkable for its viciousness and intensity - and falsity.
According to the grapevine, high-level administrators have been arrested for misappropriating federal funds; the FBI raided the administration building and sealed off an office to check for evidence; officials are being investigated for bid-rigging.
School officials, with growing frustration as the rumors escalated, insist that none is true.
``I can categorically deny the existence of anybody being arrested, the existence of anybody under criminal investigation, or of there being any investigation of bid-rigging or price-fixing,'' schools spokesman George Raiss said.
Raiss said he has received inquiries about the rumors from reporters with all of the area's major media outlets, including the three network television affiliates.
``There's nothing to them,'' Raiss said. ``The people . . . spreading these rumors need a reality check.''
School officials point to several events last week that may have fueled the gossip:
An assistant superintendent retired on Wednesday.
A bomb threat at the administration building brought a swarm of police on Thursday.
A group of Maury High parents announced at a School Board meeting Thursday night that the U.S. Department of Education was investigating a complaint involving girls sports.
Federal officials were in town all week reviewing special-education records for signs of discrimination.
Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. sent a fax to School Board members advising them to disregard the gossip. Another administrator sent a message to school principals calling the rumors ``slanderous'' and ``outrageous lies.''
Officials from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights are expected in Norfolk next week to begin investigating a federal Title IX complaint from an anonymous Maury parent. The complaint alleges that the school's athletic program has discriminated against girls. The parents also have raised concerns about the accounting of school athletic funds. by CNB