THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508260100
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Back to School
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 155 lines
THELMA HARDY, a leader in the Dale Homes complex, is determined to help make Emily Spong Elementary an academic jewel.
In her vision, the newly converted elementary school will open a world in which high achievement is celebrated and supported. And she thinks parents and nearby residents must play a starring role.
That's why bright and early one recent morning, she went door-to-door throughout the complex, passing out fliers that explained school plans and ways to get involved.
Spong is in an area where residents are short of cash. But Hardy doesn't think they should be short of hope when it comes to their children's futures.
``The community schools plan can work,'' she said, ``if everybody comes together.''
This school year, all of the city's elementary students have the chance to attend schools closer to home - in their own communities - instead of being bused across town solely for desegregation purposes. Norfolk ended elementary school busing for desegregation in 1986. In Portsmouth, the change is the first of its kind in nearly three decades.
How things will shake out remains to be seen. So far, this much is clear:
Portsmouth won't save a bundle on elementary school busing. The School Board's ``open enrollment'' policy allowed elementary students to attend out-of-zone schools if space were available. The district bought eight additional buses to make open enrollment possible. A reduction in the walking distance - from a mile to a half-mile for elementary students - also increased the number of bus routes.
When community schools were first discussed, some said the plan might reduce transportation costs. That now seems unlikely. Administrators are projecting five additional elementary bus routes. And, according to preliminary figures, 256 more elementary students will ride buses to school this year compared with last year.
School choice is attractive. Preliminary figures also show that at least 17 percent of a projected 9,300 elementary students opted to attend schools beyond their communities.
The School Board paved the way for community schools in March 1994. After nearly a year and a half of central office preparation and debates in community forums and board rooms, the plan becomes reality on Sept. 5.
Many residents have embraced the idea of keeping kids closer to home so parents and communities can better connect with schools. On the other hand, some still call the ending of elementary busing for integration a bad deal, especially for black children living in low-income neighborhoods.
Most, however, say they're pleased with at least one aspect of the plan: All 19 elementary schools will be uniform, with kindergarten through fifth-grade classes, instead of the previous hodgepodge. Converting three centers to regular elementary schools also provided more classroom space across the district, which no longer must rely on mobile units at elementary schools.
The areas served by Spong, Brighton, S.H. Clarke Community Academy and Mount Hermon elementary schools face perhaps the toughest road ahead.
In the predominantly black neighborhoods that will provide those schools with most of their students, the percentage of residents living below the poverty line is at least twice the city average of 18 percent. And per capita income in these neighborhoods ranges from $3,900 to $8,200 less than the city average of $11,158, according to 1990 Census records.
Studies suggest if parents and educators work together, they can tackle academic problems that often accompany such concentrated poverty. But Portsmouth's backdrop is stark:
Shrinking federal and city revenues have put the district in a downsizing mode. The city reduced its share for schools by $1 million for the 1995-96 year.
The administration cut school budgets for instructional materials and supplies by 34 percent.
Although some of the money for magnet programs was restored after parents, students and teachers complained about the degree of the cuts, total funding was reduced nearly 30 percent. Teachers who coordinated the programs full-time will return to the classroom part-time to lessen the need for additional staff at magnet schools.
The district also anticipates $500,000 less in Title One money from the federal government. That money is used to bring disadvantaged youngsters up to grade level in reading and math.
Despite the bleak outlook, some remain optimistic. ``The talent we have in our district will allow us to achieve anything,'' said Viola G. Morgan, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. ``. . . We will use the resources available to us for the maximum benefit of all Portsmouth students.''
As furniture and inventories were redistributed and elementary teachers reassigned, both the administration and the School Board pledged that no elementary school would be shortchanged in any way.
The board's oversight committee will monitor the distribution of resources among elementary schools. But at this point, oversight must also take place at the grassroots, said Mount Hermon Elementary Principal Valerie Brown. During its transition from a special center to a regular elementary school, Mount Hermon has received financial and other support from the Mount Hermon Improvement Foundation and local volunteers.
``I know we can make a difference with our children. I think it's going to be a challenge, but I know it can be done,'' Brown said. ``Everybody must have ownership. It's not the principal's responsibility or the system's responsibility. It's everyone's responsibility.''
Karen James, a Waterview mother of three, enrolled her two school-age children at John Tyler Elementary for the upcoming year. One son will enter first grade at Tyler, instead of returning to Portsmouth Catholic Elementary. The other will begin kindergarten.
James said she gave Tyler a shot because its teachers and administrators seemed enthusiastic and dedicated. Neighbors also sold her on the idea.
``The community,'' she said, ``has put a lot of emphasis on trying to work with John Tyler - especially this neighborhood. Several of the groups had been calling and talking to different families. I visited the school when the students were there, and I was impressed with the principal and the teachers. Tyler's also closer to home.''
The plan has detractors, however. Critics say some black and white parents' dissatisfaction with busing has been a cover for the real anxiety about their middle-class children attending school with large numbers of poor children from low-income neighborhoods.
Many black residents, who were among the first to integrate city schools in the early 1960s, also dislike the plan. Richard E. Copeland, now a 39-year-old city police officer, was one of the first black children to integrate Spong. He's not a community schools fan.
``If it keeps going like it's going, before you know it, it will be back to Day 1,'' he said, referring to the period when separate and unequal schools isolated black children. ``. . . I'm a little disappointed.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color drawing on cover by Ken Wright
Community schools: Kids will stay closer to home...
Staff photo by JIM WALKER
Thelma Hardy is delivering circulars to Dale Homes residents to try
to get them excited about the nearby Emily Spong Elementary School.
Chart
RACIAL COMPOSITION
The end of elementary school busing means student enrollments at
7 of 19 elementary schools will be nearly all-black. The district is
about 68 percent black.
Percent black Percent black
School (Sept. '94) projected
underplan for
'95-96)
Brighton 75 100
Douglass Park** 87 97
Lakeview 86 99
Park View** 82 93
Mount Hermon * 96
S.H. Clarke * 99
Emily Spong * 98
* These buildings previously housed special programs.
** Magnet schools.
Sources: 1995-96 figures are from the district's October 1994 report
of anticipated enrollment by race at community schools; 1994 figures
are from the district's Sept. 30, 1994, enrollment summary.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS by CNB