THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 17, 1996 TAG: 9601160075
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
The county School Board has approved a $28.9 million, five-year capital improvements program budget that includes building two new schools in Windsor, extending regional sewer lines to schools in Smithfield and Windsor and adding air conditioning in the Smithfield High gymnasium.
Schools Superintendent Jane York will submit the capital budget proposal, for 1996-2001, to the Isle of Wight County Board next month, emphasizing school officials' belief that new school buildings are their highest priority for a county facing explosive growth, especially in the Windsor area.
As if to underscore that view, board members unanimously agreed at their meeting last week to make the physical school facilities priorities in their capital budget request - moving such projects as a new transportation center and an administration center, which would bring the superintendent's office together with other top administrators, at the bottom of the CIP budget list.
Some of the projects noted in the capital budget, such as renovations to Hardy Elementary and building a new elementary school in Carrsville, already have begun.
But additional facilities will be absolutely necessary, board members say, because the population in Isle of Wight in general - and Windsor in particular, due to planned sewage-line expansion - is expected to explode in the next five years.
``If the growth comes, and if the sewers come, and if the telephones come, somebody in 1999 is going to have to be looking for several million dollars in new schools,'' board Chairman Richard Peerey said.
Windsor Middle/High School opened two years ago, but it already has been judged overcrowded and incapable of accommodating more students. And, after Carrsville Elementary was demolished last summer, Windsor Elementary is one of the oldest schools in the system and in the worst condition, school officials say.
``We have 17 mobile units on campus at Windsor Elementary School,'' board member Pam Edwards said at the meeting, held last week at Windsor Middle/High. ``Compare the educational opportunities that will exist in that kind of environment to the opportunities that exist in this kind of building or at Smithfield Middle School.
``There is no comparison.''
Consultants hired by the board have warned county officials to expect growth in both ends of the county, Smithfield in the north and Windsor near the south. But even with the best projections, it is difficult to predict how many new students are likely to enter the county's education system, board member James Brown said.
He would rather see an elementary school built somewhere north of Windsor so that, with redistricting, it also could accommodate unexpected growth in the county's northern end.
Although the board at one time had considered renovating Windsor Elementary, two consultants have concluded that, from a structural standpoint, it isn't worth it.
In another matter at the meeting, the board directed York to prepare a recommendation for reassigning 70 students from Carrollton Elementary to Hardy Elementary next year and 80 students from Windsor Elementary to Carrsville Elementary. ILLUSTRATION: FIVE-YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
1996-2001, Isle of Wight County Public Schools, proposed
School buses purchases $1,800,000
Renovate Hardy Elementary 167,889
New Carrsville Elementary 486,484
Replace AC units at Pruden Vocational Center 126,730
New Windsor Elementary School 9,808,800
HRSD sewer for Carrollton Elementary, Smithfield High, Windsor
Elementary and Windsor Middle/High School 887,560
New Windsor Middle School; convert Windsor Middle/High School to
high school only 13,483,288
Expand transportation center 271,600
Air condition Smithfield High gym 303,600
New administration center 888,000
Upgrade Smithfield Middle auditorium 643,125
TOTAL ............$28,867,076
NOTE: $781,103 of the work already has begun, including
renovations to Hardy Elementary, the new Carrsville Elementary
School and the county's share of replacing air-conditioning units at
Pruden Vocational Center; and $300,000 already has been spent to buy
school buses.
KEYWORDS: ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD by CNB