THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 10, 1995 TAG: 9511080174
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Computer junkies now have a new way to get facts and figures about the Chesapeake Public School system.
School Board member James J. Wheaton has created a special site on the internet that contains everything from school principals' names and phone numbers to the board's budgets for operating expenses and capital improvements.
Called the ``Unofficial Chesapeake Public Schools Information Home Page'' and located on a network called the World Wide Web, Wheaton's online offering is designed to supplement information the school system provides on its own World Wide Web page.
Wheaton's version includes an easy way for computer users to access the school system's Web site, which lists things like the school district's mission statement and some Web sites set up by individual schools.
Wheaton's page went online in September.
``I wanted to put up a lot of the information that people ask me about all the time,'' he said.
Computer users can find facts such as the number of portable classrooms each city school has, and what plans are in place to get rid of them. Wheaton also has listed school system discipline policies and the most recent test scores, which are ``not usually at people's fingertips,'' he said.
``A lot of people seem to have found the page already, because I'm getting a lot of e-mail,'' Wheaton said.
There is some information about Norfolk and Virginia Beach public schools on the internet, but nothing as extensive.
Wheaton, a computer buff and a lawyer who has been on the board since 1991, said he was looking for a way to make it easier for Chesapeake residents to learn about the school system.
``It's basically a way to provide people with easy access to information that they otherwise would have had to run around to obtain,'' he said.
Wheaton said he probably would add things to the page, such as information about the city's first School Board elections scheduled for Dec. 19.
He said he also welcomes suggestions, via phone or electronic mail, jwheaton(AT)infi.net. His Web site is at http://www.infi.net/(tilde) jwheaton/cpshome.html. by CNB