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

DATE: Saturday, December 16, 1995            TAG: 9512160263
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Long  :  160 lines

SCHOOL NEEDS PROJECTED AT QUARTER-BILLION THAT IS THE TOTAL FROM 9 DISTRICTS FOR THE NEXT DECADE.

Meeting all the school building needs in Northeastern North Carolina would cost more than a quarter of a billion dollars over the next decade.

That's the total figure from nine local districts that have formally approved estimates for a statewide survey of school construction needs.

By the Friday reporting deadline, most districts had an idea of what it would cost to build, repair or overhaul schools to meet all state standards in areas such as health, safety and classroom size.

For all of North Carolina, the unofficial 10-year total for building needs is likely to exceed $7 billion, said Jerry Knott, section chief of school planning for the state Department of Public Instruction.

That's up significantly from the $5.6 billion reported on a similar statewide survey two years ago.

This latest fact-finding mission was ordered by the General Assembly's School Capital Construction Study Commission, a high-powered panel charged with figuring out how to pay for desperately needed school facilities.

With numbers in hand, the commission will prepare a brief report by Jan. 15 and come up with recommendations for bailing out local districts by mid-April.

Officials believe the data from this year's survey - which used a computer-run formula to generate dollar sums from districts' need lists - are more solid than in the past.

``It's more detailed and it does have justification - checkoffs for why projects are needed,'' Knott said.

Reported regional needs range from about $8 million in Tyrrell County to more than $63 million in Elizabeth City-Pasquotank. Nearly every system has said it will need at least one new school to accommodate growth or replace leaky, outdated buildings by 2005.

And local officials, traditionally responsible for finding the means to construct school buildings, say they can't do it without assistance from Raleigh.

``We're doing everything we possibly can with the dollars we have,'' said Perquimans County Schools Superintendent Randall Henion. ``It'd make all the difference in the world to this school system if we could get some help.''

The School Capital Construction Study Commission heard similar pleas from all corners of the state during a two-month, nine-stop public hearing tour. The 20-member commission includes the state's top-ranked education officials and a number of key General Assembly members.

Confronting the panel are issues of how to raise the billions needed to bring state schools up to par and how to distribute money fairly among counties of widely varying wealth.

Even in many rich counties, commission members say, growth is outstrippig the ability to build new schools. In many poorer counties, there is no base to raise building funds at all.

Elizabeth City-Pasquotank's long-range needs include a new $18 million high school by 1998, a third middle school by 2002 and renovations to most other schools in the district.

Pasquotank in the last year has committed nearly $22 million to building a new middle school and renovating several elementaries. But money already appropriated for construction does not count in the state's survey of future needs.

Currituck County's 10-year estimate totals $48.7 million. The package includes four new schools - three of them in the Moyock area.

For the past several years, Currituck has ranked as one of the fastest-growing counties in North Carolina. A $16 million high school in Barco is under construction.

School officials are proposing another $17.2 million high school, a $10.6 million middle school and a $6 million elementary school in the northern end of the county by 2005. A $6 million elementary school in Jarvisburg, already on the books, would be built by 2000.

Renovations to existing buildings round out the needs inventory, county officials said.

Dare County's 10-year estimate from the state survey was not available Friday. In January, officials said, the district plans to select a consultant at a cost of $20,000 to $30,000 to help determine its long-term facility needs.

Superintendent Leon Holleman said the system's primary needs include a new high school and additional space for rapidly expanding elementary and middle schools.

``We're looking at an overcrowded Manteo High School,'' Holleman said. ``We also need to look at the needs for a new middle school on Roanoke Island and retro-fitting the current middle school for upper elementary grades.''

Improvements will also be needed for Cape Hatteras School, still feeling the effects of 1993's Hurricane Emily, Holleman said.

Perquimans County's long-term needs haven't changed much since the last statewide survey was conducted in 1993, Henion said. But the district around that time completed $2.5 million in renovations to Perquimans County Middle School.

``It's so obvious that it does make a difference when the building is so worn out,'' Henion said. Since the middle school was renovated, ``we're seeing a tremendous difference in attitude, and even in the performance of students.''

Perquimans' state-projected 10-year needs have come in at $18.4 million.

Camden County needs to replace two of its three schools in the next 10 years, Superintendent Carole Smith said Friday. County officials estimate an additional 1,500 students coming into the county in that time, and there is no room to expand at either the middle school or high school.

``We are landlocked at both places,'' Smith said. ``We're trying to be conservative, but on the other hand, we're trying to look toward the future.''

At least one local county - Washington - won't be looking for much from the state survey. The county's population has stabilized, and the schools have spent the last decade ridding the district of modular classrooms.

``We got ours taken care of becuase we've been steady at it since 1984,'' Washington County Schools finance officer John Lewis said. ``I didn't pad it up like a lot of counties are going to do. MEMO: Staff Writers Anne Saita and Paul South contributed to this story.

ILLUSTRATION: FUNDS NEEDED

Estimated school construction needs over the next 10 years in

Northeastern North Carolina (in millions).

Bertie NA*

Camden $20.8

Currituck $48.7

Chowan NA*

Dare NA*

Gates NA*

Halifax $30.9

Hertford $19.0

Hyde NA*

Martin $21.0

Northampton $17.5

Pasquotank $63.4

Perquimans $18.4

Tyrrell $ 8.1

Washington NA*

Total $247.8

* Figure not available either because the state has not processed

survey or county officials have not approved results.

SOURCES: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and

various county officials.

FUNDS NEEDED