THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, November 10, 1995              TAG: 9511100454
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                     LENGTH: Short :   50 lines

FAUCETTE SAYS HE'LL COME TALK TO GRAND JURY EX-SUPERINTENDENT SAYS HIS INFORMATION COULD HURT MANY BEACH OFFICIALS.

Former schools superintendent Sidney L. Faucette says he is willing to return from his new job in Georgia should a special grand jury care to speak with him.

At least that's what he has told a reporter in Gwinnett County, where he now heads up schools. Faucette was unavailable for comment Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday, according to his secretary, and did not return phone messages left at his office by The Virginian-Pilot.

However, he is quoted in Thursday's Gwinnett Daily Post as saying he would be happy to comply with any request to return to Virginia Beach and testify.

Commonwealth's Attorney Robert J. Humphreys announced Wednesday that he would seek a special grand jury investigation into the school district's finances after the discovery of a $12.1 million shortfall for the 1994-95 fiscal year.

A special grand jury cannot compel someone outside the state to testify.

Faucette is quoted as saying that providing Virginia authorities with details of how the crisis occurred would hurt many people in the city's government and school system.

``If I can be part of the solution, and people are really serious about a solution, I'm willing to talk about it. I'm not on a witch hunt. I've been damaged and taken it with grace. I have said from the beginning I would be more than happy to return,'' he is quoted in the Gwinnett newspaper.

Faucette first warned Virginia Beach School Board members almost a year ago that the district faced a possible budget shortfall, but he and Chief Financial Officer Mordecai L. Smith assured them that spending restrictions could resolve the matter. Faucette has said he depended on his financial staff for information. Smith, who has been placed on administrative leave, said Faucette knew the depth of the problems.

``Anything that is on the table, I have not been a part of,'' Faucette is further quoted as saying. ``They would prefer to find a scapegoat three states away. I'm not sure a lot of people would be enamored of my coming back and discussing it in a public venue.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Sidney L. Faucette, from Georgia: ``They would prefer to find a

scapegoat three states away.''

by CNB