THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508020184
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bill Leffler
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
The demise of the Southeastern District as home base for Portsmouth and Chesapeake schools apparently is imminent.
The demolition of the district tentatively is scheduled for the 1996-97 school year.
Chesapeake schools are expected to remain in the district. Two of Portsmouth's three schools are headed out - into the Eastern District or into a limbo land called District 2, Group AA. Churchland could stay in the Southeastern or wind up in the Eastern.
But one thing is for certain: there will be plenty of verbal exchanges and politicking before any action is taken.
The Virginia High School League is in the process of restructuring its alignment of member schools. Currently, the VHSL has 280 members. The Group AAA ranks include 109 schools. There are 81 in Group AA and 90 in Group A.
Technically, Group AAA schools have an enrollment of 1,001 or more in grades 10-12. Group AA schools range between 501 and 1,000, and Group A have 500 or fewer.
For years, schools - and this has included the three from Portsmouth - simply have appealed to play in a higher classification and approval always has been granted.
However, one of two plans that has been proposed by the Redistricting and Reclassification Committee of the VHSL requires schools to play in the group in which its membership falls.
Under enrollment figures submitted to the VHSL, Churchland would be a Group AAA school, and Wilson and Norcom would be in Group AA.
Under this plan, Churchland will remain in the Southeastern District along with Western Branch, Deep Creek, Great Bridge, Indian River, Oscar Smith, Nansemond River and Hickory, a new school that will be opening in Chesapeake.
Wilson and Norcom will play in a district composed of Grafton, Lakeland, Poquoson, Smithfield, Tabb and York.
Believe me, before this alignment comes about, old grads at Wilson and Norcom will be ready to abolish the VHSL.
The second plan unquestionably will be endorsed by Eastern Region principals when they meet Wednesday. And only because most feel it's the lesser of two evils.
That plan will keep Churchland, Norcom and Wilson in the same district - the Eastern, not the Southeastern. The Portsmouth teams will be bracketed with the five Norfolk schools - Booker T. Washington, Lake Taylor, Norview, Granby and Maury.
The Southeastern will consist of the five present Chesapeake schools, Hickory and Nansemond River.
After region meetings, the Redistricting and Reclassification Committee will reconvene Aug. 22. This will be followed by meetings of the 26-member Executive Committee, which will make the final decision.
Deep Creek principal Nat Hardee is the Eastern Region representative on the 12-man Redistricting committee. Ocean Lakes principal Jerry Deviney is the only Eastern Region representative on the 26-member Executive Committee.
``There is no way I would support Plan 1 (the plan placing schools in groups by size),'' said Hardee.
Churchland principal Raymond Hale is chairman of the Eastern Region principals. He also favors Plan 2.
Said Hale: ``One thing we've worried about from the beginning is breaking up natural and traditional rivalries. Keeping schools in a city together is a priority for most of us.'' by CNB