THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511030155
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALELTA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
A group of parents and staff at Princess Anne High School is hoping something good will come of the fire that devastated the city's oldest operating high school just days before the school year began.
Calling themselves ``Operation Phoenix,'' they plan to lobby the School Board at its meeting Tuesday and the City Council the following week to rebuild the school with improvements and additions they say have been needed for some time.
``It's logical, it's practical, it's cost effective'' to do it now, said Tina Lenhart, a teacher at the school and co-chair of Operation Phoenix.
The fire, set by an arsonist, gutted the center of the school on Virginia Beach Boulevard in the early hours of Sept. 1, just four days before classes began for the year. Compounding the disaster was the discovery of asbestos contamination in some areas of the school in the wake of the fire. The school's 2,700 students have been scattered among usable portions of the school and other school division sites with the bulk of them housed at Celebration Station, a mini-mall turned high school campus.
Insurance will cover rebuilding the school as it was, but not the changes that some want.
Even before the fire, Operation Phoenix leaders say, it was apparent that the student body was outgrowing the facility. Besides students who attend the comprehensive high school program at P.A., the site also has housed the Center for Pregnant Teens, the division's Open Campus program and about 200 special education students. Over the next several years, enrollment is expected to grow to about 2,900 students.
``Where the fire took place is part of the original building,'' said parent and Operation Phoenix co-chair Katie Peterson. ``It's really inadequate to house the number of students.
``Why not extend it and make it the right size? I'd hate to see a Band-Aid on the building.''
Among the changes Operation Phoenix is calling for:
Addition of instructional space in the 200 hall and Library Media Center, both damaged by fire.
Increased seating capacity in the cafeteria.
Installation of sprinklers throughout the building.
Complete removal of asbestos from the undamaged portions of the building.
It is not clear how much the additional changes would cost.
The community has rallied around the staff and students of Princess Anne, donating more than $40,000 to replace supplies and mementos. Operation Phoenix, members say, is a continuation of that community spirit.
City officials would have to approve money through the capital improvement process for any rebuilding costs. City Manager James K. Spore said covering such expenses for the high school would require shifting funds from other projects within the existing plan or including the project in the CIP to be approved next spring.
``There are a lot of needs out there chasing very few dollars,'' Spore said. However, if the changes being requested are needed improvements, he said city officials ``would definitely consider it. It may make a whole lot of sense.''
Lenhart said the school and city officials that the organization has contacted have been ``very cooperative and very kind. I know they'll do what they can.''
Patricia W. Griffin, the school's principal, said that the members of Operation Phoenix have kept her informed of their plans and that she is supportive of their efforts.
``This (effort) came from our community,'' she said. ``It's all for the improvement of Princess Anne High School.''
KEYWORDS: PRINCESS ANNE HIGH SCHOOL by CNB