THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510200491
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
The embers from the fire at Princess Anne High School cooled weeks ago, but the community enthusiasm to help teachers and students restock scorched classrooms remains hot.
After weeks of fund raising that tapped the generosity of parents, students and corporations, the treasurer of the Recovery Fund Committee reported Thursday that $41,000 has been raised.
The 15-member committee is an impromptu group of teachers, students, parents and administrators that formed after hundreds of donations began pouring in following a Sept. 1 arson fire that devastated the city's oldest high school.
At first, the money came in as donations to students operating a car wash at Thalia Shell, a nearby service station.
The cause soon spread, with companies donating money and products, while dozens of anonymous donors gave hundreds of dollars each.
In an effort to apply accounting standards and accountability to the growing fund, Douglas L. Bowles, a certified public accountant, was asked to serve as account treasurer.
Much of the money has been spent or committed to materials lost in the fire, although a reserve of less than $5,000 remains for future needs, he said. But because the fund raising continues, the committee meets about once every two weeks to consider how best to spend new money.
``We've given a fixed amount to every faculty member who lost teaching supplies,'' Bowles said. ``All of our decisions are based on a needs assessment survey that was conducted within the school, among each faculty member, and even among student organizations, like the after-school clubs, to see what was lost.''
The English department received about $1,400 because all of its contents were lost in the fire. Among the gifts: cabinets, video tapes, cassettes, film strips, dictionaries and an $800, computer-based writing laboratory.
One anonymous donor gave $4,000 and insisted the money be spent on video equipment. Money also has been spent on surge protectors, which are crucial to protecting the electronic circuits of televisions and computers, and heavy duty portable extension cords, Bowles said.
No request seems too small.
``The forensics club lost a lot, if not everything,'' Bowles said. ``They needed stop watches because they're needed to help time presentations. So we bought stop watches, little things like that but which over the course of a school add up to quite a lot.''
The watches cost less than $50.
Other departments, like foreign language and business, lost much more and the committee is still considering how best to help those departments.
``There is a concern that everyone be treated fairly,'' Bowles said.
The committee even bought supplies, like a handful of filing cabinets and book cases, that are expected to be covered by insurance. They chose to replace them because they were needed right away.
If Aetna Life & Casualty, the school system's insurer, agrees to cover them, then the additional storage capacity will help the teachers regardless of the school's coverage.
The school system is still negotiating with its insurer on the reimbursement costs for the fire, although last month the system took possession of a $500,000 down payment to cover losses. The fire's total cost is expected to far exceed that amount.
Joyce P. Davis, the president of the Parent-Teacher Student Association for Princess Anne, remained as thrilled on Thursday about the community's generosity as she was in the early days of fund raising.
``It's just wonderful that the community out there is giving us so much help,'' said Davis, the parent of a junior and a senior at the fire-ravaged school as well as two other children, a fifth- and seventh-grader, who she expects will attend Princess Anne.
``We had no idea how many people would be aware of our problems and how generous they would be,'' said Davis, who also is a secretary at Landstown Elementary School.
``The outpouring of support is more than we expected,'' said Bowles, the accountant. ``We're just trying to be stewards of the funds as best we can in terms of the school's needs.'' by CNB