THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 21, 1995 TAG: 9511210278
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN AND KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
The School Board and the City Council will decide today whether the fire-swept Princess Anne High School will be rebuilt as it was or expanded to solve long-standing problems.
To keep construction on schedule, the School Board must decide today if it can adjust its capital budget to find $1.5 million needed for the changes while confronting an operating fund deficit of $12.1 million from last year.
The council, which must formally approve the funding strategy, said it will not make any new money available for the expanded cafeteria, library and multi-purpose room sought by parents, teachers and students. If the School Board wants the new facilities, it will have to find the money among existing resources, council members said.
On Sept. 1, just days before the school year began, an arsonist touched off a fire at Princess Anne High, which plunged the school administration into a massive, almost-overnight reshuffling of schedules for 2,500 students.
Within hours of the fire, students, parents, teachers and administrators citywide sprang into action by raising money to pay for property destroyed but not covered by insurance.
They washed cars, baked cookies, held concerts, doing almost anything to show support for the school. More than $50,000 was raised for teachers and the school itself.
From that effort sprang another initiative, dubbed Operation Phoenix, whose members say now is the time to address the school's long-standing problems.
Aetna Life & Casualty has agreed to restore the building to the way it was before the fire at a cost of about $7 million. But Phoenix members say the school could use more room.
``We're asking for a total 10,000 more square feet for the building,'' said Katie Petersen, a school parent who with teacher Tina Lenhart is the co-chair for Operation Phoenix. Sid Rader, another teacher, also serves on the committee.
``With the cafeteria space we now have, we have to have four lunch periods, and that decision drives the entire instructional program,'' Petersen said. ``Scheduling can be a nightmare.''
Given the existing school cafeteria size of 6,412 square feet, only 420 students can be fed at one time. With more than 2,500 students enrolled, they must eat in shifts, which forces the school into complicated scheduling programs.
In addition, she said, the cafeteria must accommodate West Wing students, who are disabled and often require additional space in the cafeteria. Some of these students are in wheelchairs. Some must have their food run through a food processor and some must be fed by their teachers.
``All this takes more space, and we don't have much,'' Petersen said.
The group argues similar points about the need for an expanded library and multi-purpose room.
The School Board's decision over funding the expansion is complicated because the City Council has asked the district to return any unneeded funds to the city to help repay last year's deficit. But city officials suggested the schools could tap a $3 million fund set aside to buy new school sites.
A portion of that money is not needed now, city officials said, because the City Council has agreed to provide two sites on city-owned land near the municipal center. City Manager James K. Spore said he did not know exactly how much money would be available from that fund.
Several School Board members said Monday that they think the expansion is worth the cost; council members said they would support the measure if the School Board did.
``If it's going to be done, now's the time to go for it,'' said School Board member Donald F. Bennis. ``I'm not sure there is ever going to be a good time to ask the school system for more money.''
Council is taking a cautious approach.
``Obviously, we are interested in the School Board saying it is a priority with them,'' said Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf.
``It's not up to the council to decide,'' she said. ``That's a priority, we need to hear from the School Board. If the School Board did not feel it was a priority, it would give the council a reluctance to impose something that the School Board did not think was necessary.''
Councilman W.W. ``Bill'' Harrison Jr., who represents the Lynnhaven Borough, said he would be happy to let the School Board move money around to cover the additions, but would not vote to give the district more money than it already has.
``If they want $1.5 million, over and above (what) we approved last May, then the answer is I'm not in favor of it right now,'' he said. ``I think that ball is clearly lodged in the School Board's court.''
School and construction officials estimate the project would be completed by January 1997. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Charlie Meads, The Virginian-Pilot
Princess Anne High School teacher Tina Lenhart, left; Katie
Petersen, center, a school parent; and Sid Rader, another teacher;
are members of Operation Phoenix, which seeks 10,000 more feet in
the school to address longstanding problems.
KEYWORDS: PRINCESS ANNE HIGH SCHOOL by CNB