THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 28, 1996 TAG: 9606280452
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 80 lines
Granby High School Principal Michael J. Caprio calls himself the happiest guy in the city school system.
Next week, work is scheduled to start on the long-awaited expansion and renovation of rundown, 57-year-old Granby High. During construction, ninth- and 10th-graders will be housed down the way on Granby Street at the former Norfolk Catholic School, Caprio's alma mater - meaning he'll be head honcho of his old high school stomping grounds.
``My old principal would turn over in his grave if he knew I was taking over his school,'' Caprio joked this week.
But Caprio's excitement is tempered.
And some parents at Granby High are downright mad.
They're upset because there's not enough money on hand for the planned enlargement and overhaul of the school's dilapidated gym; the school system is $3.1 million short. The School Board has $21 million available, but the construction bid came in at $25.4 million.
In addition, other cost-saving cuts are being made in the construction contract that will eliminate technology features that Caprio said would have made the school a ``showcase.''
``We're starting to cut some of the nice things out, and that's a shame,'' Caprio said. ``We're going from stuff that should be done to economizing.''
The news did not settle well with parents, who said the City Council and the School Board have promised to build this project for more than a decade. Some said they will seek more money from the council, which funds the school system's operating and capital improvement budgets.
``I'm disappointed, I'm mad and I feel betrayed,'' said Fleater Allen, president of the Granby High PTA. ``They've been dangling this carrot in front of us for 15 years now, and they have put off and put off. It's their fault it's costing this much - for dragging their feet for so long.''
Coming up with the money to build new schools or renovate old ones is a challenge facing school districts nationwide. And it is especially acute in an older city like Norfolk with aging schools: The average age of the city's school buildings is about 40 years old.
The project, designed for 1,800 students, would increase the size of the school by nearly 70 percent, to 265,000 square feet from its current 157,000 square feet.
The contractor, W.M. Jordan Company, headquartered in Newport News, has agreed to work with school officials to meet the School Board's budget.
Eliminating the gym work saved $3.1 million, and cutting some food service equipment saved another $347,000.
Now, officials are ``value-engineering'' the project - a euphemism for downsizing, Caprio said - to find another $920,000 in reductions. That is being done by using less expensive building materials, scaling back landscaping and eliminating some classroom technology, Caprio said.
For example, he said, classrooms will be outfitted with six computer hookups, down from the 15 planned; lockers will be ``refaced'' instead of replaced; a planned stereo-sound communications system has been ditched.
But most disappointing, Caprio said, is the prospect of not getting a new gym.
``Right now we've had to cancel basketball games because the roof leaks,'' Caprio said.
Caprio said the community would lose out, because he said he envisioned opening the gym up for use after school and in summers. ``It should be a community gym,'' he said.
School Board Chairman Ulysses Turner said Thursday that money might be found to build the gym during the two years of construction. But he wasn't optimistic. ``It looks dim, to tell you the truth,'' Turner said.
Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. said Thursday that the old gym would at least be repainted, and there's talk of holding fund-raisers for additional ``enhancements.''
City Councilman Randy Wright, who serves on a council committee that examines school building needs, said coming up with more money would be difficult. Council, he said, ``extended ourselves an awful lot'' to come up with the money it did for the Granby project. He said the city has provided $22 million, some of which has been spent on planning and design work.
``Anybody would like a blank check, but we have to account for every dollar,'' Wright said. ``I'm not giving it a thumbs down, but I'm saying, `You've got to sell me.' ''
Allen, though, said parents are not giving up without a fight.
``How are we going to attract businesses to this city without a decent school system?'' Allen said. ``I hope they don't think we're just going to give up.'' by CNB