THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504210199
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Elizabeth Thiel
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Every year, about 2,000 students who do not officially live in Virginia Beach attend city schools.
Superintendent Sidney L. Faucette proposed closing the door to all but those who had special reasons for attending Beach schools, such as the need to be close to the city's medical facilities.
Tuesday night, the School Board gave unanimous support to Faucette's plan.
Considering all the difficulties city schools face with crowding and limited resources, ``It seemed practical to me not to have an open-door policy,'' Faucette said.
Non-resident students who now attend city schools will be allowed to continue, under a grandfather clause. The school system will continue to cooperate with other area school systems for regional programs that require students to attend schools in cities other than where they live. No free ride
Recently, the School Board extended an unusual offer to high school students living at the south end of the Oceanfront, allowing them to choose whether to attend First Colonial or Ocean Lakes High.
The offer came because First Colonial is crowded, while the new Ocean Lakes is well under its capacity. Board members wanted to encourage students to migrate to Ocean Lakes without approving a controversial change in attendance zones.
The only stipulation was that students wishing to attend Ocean Lakes had to provide their own transportation.
Tuesday, parents from that area requested that the board provide one or two buses to take their kids to Ocean Lakes. They said more parents would switch to Ocean Lakes, if transportation were provided.
The board denied the request by a vote of 8-3, with Karen O. O'Brien, Donald F. Bennis and Robert W. Hall in favor of offering the transportation.
Board members who opposed the idea said it would be a dangerous precedent to offer busing to students who wanted to attend a school other than the one they were zoned for.
``If we're going to do what some of the board members are supporting tonight, then why didn't we just rezone them in the first place,'' said board member Tim Jackson.
``You're going to hear people all over this city wanting transportation,'' he said.
``We decided to leave this community in First Colonial,'' said board member Susan L. Creamer. ``We have to live with that decision.''
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOL BOARD by CNB