THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 15, 1995 TAG: 9509130124
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Students of Thurgood Marshall Elementary School may be attending classes at their home campus by the start of next week after construction problems delayed the opening of Chesapeake's newest school, the school board was told Monday night.
All of Deep Creek Elementary School's students are together in that building after seven classes were relocated to a nearby high school for several days because construction had fallen behind on additions and renovations there.
Both schools should have opened last week, when classes resumed throughout the division. Because the building work had not been completed in time, however, Thurgood Marshall students have been sent to the old Truitt Middle School building and the Edwards-Wilson Center. Some Deep Creek second- and third-graders were sent by shuttle bus with their teachers to Deep Creek High School.
Thurgood Marshall could be open for business Monday if some phone line work and the fire inspection can be completed by then, according to Steven M. Gilbert, the school division's administrative director for operations. Some work remains to be done at Deep Creek Elementary School, he said, but half the wing was ready and had been occupied.
Other information heard by the board included:
A request by Lamont Simmons of Chesapeake Forward that the new elementary school on Cedar Road be named for former City Councilman William P. Clarke Sr. Simmons also suggested that the proposed middle school in Deep Creek be named for former vice mayor Hugo A. Owens Sr. A board committee has been appointed to work on a name for the Cedar Road school.
A request from the Chesapeake Education Association, supported by an overflow crowd and a 1,000-signature petition, that the division rethink its salary schedule for all employees so that it takes less time for employees to reach the top of the pay scale, that movement up the scale translates to an increase in pay, and that movement up the scale coincides with years of experience. Although the board did not act, chairman Maury Brickhouse told the group of division employees ``Rest assured, you mean a great deal to us, and it is our intention to do the best we can with regard to this issue.''
A construction update that indicated most of the work on the new Hickory High School is on or ahead of schedule for an August 1, 1996, completion. Work on the auditorium is behind but should be caught up by next August.
A report on alternative scheduling at Western Branch and Great Bridge high schools. Western Branch is using a type of block scheduling that has students take four doubly long courses, which are completed in a term. Great Bridge's scheduling has students taking longer classes but on alternate days.
Linda Palombo, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, presented part of the report. She explained that alternative scheduling is one element in the larger education reform movement. Some of the ideas behind changing scheduling are providing teachers with longer blocks of time to work with students, reducing the number of classes and accompanying work facing students each semester and cutting down on the time lost in class changes. by CNB