THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 21, 1996 TAG: 9602200096
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Parents representing the small community of Waterford Oaks on Virginia Route 10 came out last week to plead with the School Board not to change the school their elementary-age youngsters attend.
``The No. 1 reason we moved into Waterford Oaks was because we were told Carrollton was going to be the school for our children,'' said Bonnie King, almost in tears at the board meeting. ``These are our babies,'' she said of the subdivision's 14 elementary-age children, who ``cannot make or break Hardy or Carrollton. Please, leave them alone.''
For now, at least, the board decided to do just that.
A motion to approve a re-zoning from Carrollton to Hardy Elementary by Pam Edwards, representing the Windsor District, failed.
But shuffling the elementary school attendance zones in the northern end of the county will be on the board's agenda in March.
The rezoning was proposed because Carrollton Elementary, which opened just two years ago, is already over-crowded. The school was built for about 700 students but has more than 800.
The board asked Superintendent Jane T. York last month to look at rezoning not only in the Smithfield area but in the Windsor area as well, where Windsor Elementary is packed far beyond capacity.
Windsor has been taking up the slack this school year while a new school is under construction in Carrsville. York recommended that 76 Windsor students be re-zoned to Carrsville next fall because the new school will accommodate about 300 students. Only about 200 attended that school when it was closed last summer.
That proposal, which would move the attendance zone for Carrsville north to include West Blackwater, Sunset and Knoxville roads, passed without opposition.
Of the three communities and several streets and lanes that rezoning would affect in the northern end, only Waterford Oaks was represented at the board's meeting last week.
``Hardy has nothing to offer our children,'' said Randy Wilkins. ``We were all taken into the Waterford Oaks community because of the school that was offered. We don't want our children subjected to a move.''
Board Chairman Richard Peerey warned the group that something has to be done to more evenly divide youngsters between the two elementary schools in the northern end.
``This is not something we want to do - it's something we must do,'' he said. ``Hardy Elementary is not a shoddy school. It's a first-class educational institution. We've been struggling with this, talking about this, for two years, knowing it was going to happen.''
Hardy Elementary recently underwent a major upgrade of facilities and technology.
As another reminder to the board that something must be done, Assistant Superintendent Alexander Decker told the board that, after the recent snow and ice storms, the water to a boys' restroom at Windsor Elementary had to be turned off and the restroom closed. The roof over the restroom - and its entire surrounding wing - was so old and brittle, Decker said, that workers were unable to safely get on the roof to make repairs.
``We have a problem,'' Peerey said. MEMO: MORE SCHOOL NEWS/ 4
ILLUSTRATION: SCHOOL ZONES
The School Board considered these school attendance zone changes
at its last meeting:
Windsor/Carrsville: This plan was approved unanimously
76 students now in the Windsor Elementary district will be moved
to Carrsville in the fall.
These streets are included: Bows and Arrows Road, Buckhorn Drive
(27221-28199), Colosse Road, Duck Town Road, Knoxville Road, Little
Norfolk Road, Parsons Drive, Rhodes Drive, River Run Trail, Spivey
Town Road, Sunset Drive, Walters Highway (25500-27599), Pondview
Lane, Woodview Lane, West Blackwater Road (3500-7599), Briley
Drive.
Carrollton/Hardy: A motion to approve this plan was not seconded.
It will be on the board's next meeting agenda in March.
Under this proposal, 74 students in the Carrollton district would
be moved to Hardy.
These areas and streets are included: Waterford Oaks subdivision,
Scott's Landing subdivision, Aspenwoods subdivision, proposed
(400-home) Cypress Creek subdivision, West Main Street, Courthouse
Highway, Lakeside Mobile Home Park, Bob White Road (15100-16699),
Poor House Road, Davis Lane, Hatcher's Lane, Darden Farm Lane.
by CNB