THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701240537
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 81 lines
By a 4-3 vote Thursday, the School Board delayed a decision for up to 30 days on whether to raze W.H. Taylor Elementary School and construct a new building.
The skin-thin margin, one of the board's rare divided votes, reflected the strong emotions surrounding a school consultant's recommendation in December that the 1917 West Ghent landmark be replaced.
The delay is meant to give the board more time to address concerns raised by critics - those who want to preserve the old school and also neighborhood residents worried that a new school would intrude on property buffers and create other problems, such as disrupting traffic or reducing home values.
``Our greatest concern is in bringing the community together to address as many of your desires as we possibly can,'' said board Chairman Ulysses Turner, who voted to delay action.
Despite the breathing time offered by the board, however, it was clear that a majority of board members favors a new school rather than renovating and expanding the existing school.
Anita Poston, who also voted to delay action, said after the meeting that the consultant and architects hired by the School Board had made a strong case for a new school. That includes arguments that a new facility would offer a better educational setting for children and also be more economical for taxpayers over the long term.
``It would take some pretty powerful convincing to make me vote otherwise,'' Poston said. Poston said a delay of 30 days would not disrupt the project's timetable for completion by fall 1998.
Instead, she said, the extra time might help the board reach a decision more satisfactory to everyone. That could include a search for another site on which to build, she said.
The board's architects have recommended building a new school next to the old school in an open park facing West Princess Anne Road.
``I think we need to look at the site and the size of the building to see if it's suitable,'' Poston said.
Joann Hofheimer, who lives on Princess Anne across from the school, told the board that a city ordinance passed in 1923 set aside the park area as a buffer zone for residents. As proposed, the new school would intrude on that buffer, she said.
``To cross this boundary would be a violation of the public trust,'' Hofheimer said.
Turner said the 30-day delay would give time for the city attorney's office to investigate the issue.
But the postponement angered a contingent of Taylor PTA members who urged the board to proceed with a new school.
The PTA representatives said they had evidence to show that a majority of residents supports new construction: The West Ghent Civic League voted 39-11 Tuesday in favor of a new school. Taylor's PTA voted 166-2 Wednesday for a new building; three were undecided.
``Please do not pander to the interests of a well-heeled minority, while our children flounder in this political maelstrom,'' PTA member Nell B. Armstrong said.
PTA member Mella Goldman said later: ``We're a democracy, and the majority rules.''
Board member James Herndon, who voted to delay, said: ``It took these consultants six months of wrestling with the facts to come to the conclusion they came to, and we're asking people - even if it is a minority - to accept this in two or three weeks. I think a little more time . . . is important.''
Also voting to delay was Anna Dodson.
Voting to proceed immediately with plans for a new school were board members Joseph Waldo, Conrad Greif and Alveta V. Green.
Waldo said: ``The existing school cannot serve the needs of the children, and that's what we're here for - the needs of the children. The issue is going to be where it's located.''
In separate action, the board voted unanimously to allow architects to proceed with design plans for another project, the renovation and expansion of Bay View Elementary, which has not been controversial. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic with photo
THE DECISION: Norfolk's School Board voted 4-3 to wait on
deciding whether to renovate or replace Taylor Elementary.
THE REASON: The board gains time - up to 30 days - to address
concerns raised by opponents of a new school.
WHAT'S NEXT: The board is likely to approve a new building
eventually, but members may make changes to appease critics.
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK SCHOOL BOARD TAYLOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL