THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601260216
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
BETTER AIR
The school district has agreed to pay more than $431,000 to test a possible remedy to indoor air quality problems at Glenwood Elementary School that may eventually be used in the city's seven other ``sick'' school buildings. The money will come from the capital improvement budget, not from the strained operating fund.
The project will include moving heat pumps, putting a new air handler on the roof, duct work and other changes to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system affecting eight of the school's classrooms, according to Paul Garrison, director of environmental services. The new system will improve filtration and humidity control and increase outside air ventilation, he said. The low bid for similar work at Birdneck Elementary School came in at $717,000. He said school officials are working to lower that bid.
``It came in so high, we can't reasonably pay for it,'' Garrison said. ``If the solution is that high, we're going to have to get a mandate from the citizens'' (before proceeding).
While dehumidifiers and air cleaners have been installed in the eight schools and operable windows have been added to some, the district is pursuing a long-term solution to concerns over indoor air quality. Some staff and students have reported respiratory illnesses and other symptoms they believe are linked to molds and mildews fostered by high humidity in the schools' air.
The district planned to pilot independently-designed models at two of the schools this year to see if they brought relief. While both low bids proved higher than expected, the school board voted to move ahead at Glenwood.
WANTS RECOGNITION
The board heard a report from the Professional Association of Teachers after which representatives of that organization requested that it be recognized as a legally established employee group.
PAT was started by two Bayside High School teachers last year as an alternative to the Virginia Beach Education Association and other local education groups with ties to the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.
While other Hampton Roads school districts have allowed PAT to distribute information in school mail boxes and on bulletin boards, that privilege has been denied in the Beach. School officials have cited board policy and regulations requiring that more than half the district's teachers be members of the group in order to have distribution rights.
PAT members said such a policy gives the Virginia Beach Education Association an illegal monopoly within the district.
The board has requested a legal review of the current policy.
MONEY TRANSFER
The board voted to transfer money from several construction projects into the fund to build the new Corporate Landing Middle School on Dam Neck Road. The school is scheduled to open in September 1997.
The board's other option was to reject all bids for the project and seek additional money in the next Capital Improvement Plan. That move would have delayed the opening a year and led to serious overcrowding at Landstown Middle School, district officials said.
Construction of the new school will cost $18.6 million, about $1 million more than was budgeted. Of the needed money, $432,000 will come from transferring funds within the CIP; $300,000 will come from an account for project contingencies; and a $375,000 increase in the CIP for 1996-97 will be requested to cover the rest.
Anthony L. Arnold, director of facilities planning and construction, said officials have trimmed where they could in areas such as the quality of tile used in the buildings to save money - a process known as ``value engineering.'' The school will be built on a smaller version of the plan used for Larkspur Middle School. ``I think we have value engineered this building to the degree that we should not go any further,'' he told the board.
City Council approved the transfer.
COX AGAIN
The board recognized the Cox High School girls field hockey team for winning its seventh straight state championship and its 10th championship under coach Nancy Fowlkes. The 10 state wins for Fowlkes tie her with the national record in girls field hockey. by CNB