THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130631
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BARCO LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Church's Island children will be allowed to continue attending Griggs Elementary School next year under a newly approved redistricting plan for Currituck County's mainland elementary schools.
New school attendance areas for Moyock, Central, Griggs and the soon-to-be Knapp elementary schools received unanimous support Monday night from the Board of Education at its regular monthly meeting in Barco.
The realignments are expected to go into effect some time next year when a new high school is complete and other buildings become available.
The only change from the original redistricting proposal unveiled two months ago was the inclusion of Church's Island children at Griggs Elementary, rather than Central Elementary in Maple.
The new boundary for Griggs was prompted by a petition signed by 15 Church's Island parents, some of whom attended a public hearing last month but did not speak during the session.
The petition states that the parents wish to keep their children at Griggs so they may continue with the school's A-plus program, which incorporates the arts throughout the curriculum.
The petitioners also worried about the safety of a school bus traveling over the J.P. Knapp bridge in Coinjock, especially during the winter.
Lastly, because only nine to 11 children would be involved, the parents believed the change would not dramatically impact the realignment plan.
Central Elementary School is, however, slightly closer to Church's Island children than Griggs, which is 6.3 miles away.
``So, if they're willing to travel that extra two-tenths of a mile, it's not an imposition on the Griggs staff at this point,'' Schools Superintendent W.R. ``Ronnie'' Capps said Tuesday.
The plan should bring all mainland elementary schools under capacity for at least a few years. The inclusion of Knapp will at least temporarily eliminate overcrowding at Moyock and Central schools.
``Most people have understood for quite some time that this is necessary,'' said Capps.
The next challenge will be deciding individual transfer requests once the new schools open, the superintendent said. by CNB