THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 2, 1995 TAG: 9509020403
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
VIRGINIA BEACH - The fire at Princess Anne High has displaced 2,700 students and delayed the start of classes for them until Sept. 12, one week after school resumes for their classmates throughout the city.
While it is expected that some students will be able to return to the campus on Virginia Beach Boulevard, most will be divided among other sites in the district.
The three-alarm fire destroyed the core of the city's oldest operating high school early Friday morning. The campus houses an adult and alternative high school program, a center for pregnant teens, and a special education program, as well as a comprehensive high school.
``It probably could not have happened at a worse time,'' district spokesman Joe Lowenthal said.
Interim Superintendent James L. Pughsley cut short an out-of-town trip and returned to quarterback a meeting of the district's top staff to develop a plan for housing the students. According to the preliminary plan, on Sept. 12:
Open Campus High School students will report to Green Run High School.
West Building Special Education students will report to Princess Anne's West building, which appears to have sustained only minimal damage.
Students from the Center for Pregnant Teens will report to Ocean Lakes High School.
All other students will attend classes at Celebration Station, the Adult Learning Center, or areas of Princess Anne High School deemed safe and usable by authorities. Specific assignments will be announced later.
School officials are working out details of scheduling, opening and closing times, and transportation. They plan to make that information public as soon as possible.
Faculty and staff members at Princess Anne are to report to work Sept. 5. They will be notified of the time of day and location, officials said.
The fire is just the latest calamity in a troubled year for the district. The state's second largest school district has seen a board member unseated for ethics violation, the resignation of its chairman because of family obligations, an unanticipated fight to get out of a $900,000-a-year lease and a fiscal crisis.
While the fire is likely to put additional pressures on the budget to bring in more staff and set up programs at alternate sites, the school district does have insurance on the Princess Anne building.
``I don't know how much of it is covered by insurance, but I suspect all of it is,'' Lowenthal said. Teachers have been instructed to itemize anything lost in the blaze.
As of late Friday, Lowenthal said, school officials still had not been allowed to enter the building. Portions of it had to be shored up before fire officials could enter, and school representatives were likely to get a look today at the earliest.
Some school officials were called to the campus in the wee hours of the morning while the fire still roared west to east through the school.
Throughout the day, students, staff members and other onlookers stopped to watch firefighters cleaning up the mess. The sign that marks the teacher of the year's parking spot was wrapped in yellow police line tape. The marquee in front of the school still announced: ``School starts Sept. 5!''
``I'm shocked and devastated. I keep asking myself why did this have to happen to my school,'' said Elinor Cannon, a 17-year-old senior. ``I don't want to go to another school because my heart belongs to this one.''
``The school looks terrible. I hope we don't have to leave P.A.,'' said 18-year-old senior Jennifer May.
In a best-case scenario, several areas of the school would be usable almost immediately, Lowenthal said. In a worst case, ``We're talking months, not days or weeks.''
Lowenthal said the entire center section, which was most heavily damaged, may have to come down.
Officials urged the public to stay away from the building until further notice and announced that the building will be under constant security surveillance. MEMO: Main story on page A1 and related stories on pages A8 and A9.
Updated information on the school and plans for students will be
broadcast on Channels 47 and 48, officials said. Additional information
also is available on the Beach information line at 427-3580.
Amanda Smith, a senior at Princess Anne and a high school
correspondent, contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by Motoya Nakamura, Staff
From left, Joel Mandelkorn, 17, Ross Vierra, 17, Lauren Mills, 17,
Kelly Maher, 17, and Michael Maher, 14, watch the burned school.
KEYWORDS: PRINCESS ANNE HIGH SCHOOL FIRE by CNB