THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 7, 1997 TAG: 9702070532
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 162 lines
W.T. Cooke Elementary School is short on playing fields and parking spaces.
Students in some special programs meet in ``Cooke Nooks'' - hallway corners, stairwells and closets - because there's nowhere else to gather.
When the microwave in the teachers' lounge is turned on, the copier may shut down.
The city's oldest public school is rich in more than 90 years of history and pride but poor in facilities. Principal Greg Anderson speaks glowingly of his staff, students and the community which supports his school.
But the building is a different matter.
``Sometimes I forget it really is in lousy shape,'' Anderson says of the structure. ``Then I go into one of the newer buildings for a meeting.''
Parents notice, too.
``I feel that our school is so old that (teachers) don't have all the resources they could,'' said Liz Figari, who has one child at Cooke and another at First Colonial High School.
The magnitude of Cooke's needs has moved it to the front of a group of the city's eight oldest elementary schools under review in the first stages of renovation plans.
The project - the comprehensive modernization study - is being paid for with money from the district's Capital Improvement Plan budget. The next eight oldest would be studied if approved as part of the 1997-2003 CIP, which is now under consideration.
Although keeping up with growth has been a theme in CIPs of the last decade, school leaders are now acknowledging that the needs of some of the district's older buildings have been neglected.
``We've concentrated our efforts over the last 10 years predominantly in dealing with growth issues.(Meanwhile) our infrastructure continues to age,'' said Anthony Arnold, director of the Office of Facilities Planning and Construction for the district. ``Almost 60 percent of our buildings are more than 25 years old.''
The ongoing modernization study tries to address this. A team of architects assesses each of the sites in the study, meets with school committees to discuss their perspectives on the building's needs and then presents its findings to the school community. All of that information will then be presented to the School Board, which must decide whether to spend money for additional work.
Currently Cooke, Creeds, Bayside, Shelton Park, Thalia, Woodstock, Kempsville Meadows and Luxford are being studied. If approved as a part of the new CIP, Kempsville, Malibu, Pembroke, Lynnhaven, Trantwood, Hermitage, Arrowhead and Old Donation would be looked at next. The budget for studying the schools is about $400,000 for each group of eight.
The CIP currently under consideration also includes $600,000 to fund the design phase for renovations at Cooke so that work could begin as soon as the architects' report is received, probably in the fall.
Virginia Beach is not the only division struggling with the preservation and renovation of a historic site with strong community ties. Norfolk is facing the same issue with W.H. Taylor Elementary School.
And a study by the U.S. General Accounting Office found that more than one in four of the state's elementary and secondary school buildings needs major renovations.
Although founded in 1906 and moved to its current site a few years later, most of the building that now makes up Cooke school was built in bits and pieces 40 to 50 years ago. Little of the original construction is left.
A hallway here, a few classrooms there, became the structure that sits on just enough property to hold it in a dense, residential area. Cooke looks more like an inner-city school than any other in the Beach, with more asphalt than grass surrounding it.
``We're way, way overdo for a major renovation here,'' said Donna Farris, a library-media specialist at the school.
Lauren Figari, a third-grader, takes part in an enrichment class that meets in a stairwell. She likes her school but wishes the building were in better shape.
``It's sort of dingy,'' she said.
Cooke serves an unusual population. It is economically diverse - drawing students from some wealthy beachfront enclaves as well as those who live in low-cost motels. The student body is also the most transient in the city.
The school was re-roofed last summer and got a new gym six years ago. The rest of the building is a hodgepodge of construction.
The art room has no sinks or running water. The plumbing often lacks water pressure. Tiles have broken but can't be exactly matched for replacement because they are so old. Some classrooms are dimly lit by old fluorescent light fixtures. And, in some cases, classrooms aren't classrooms at all.
The office for a special federal program to help needy children shares space with the speech therapist in what used to be a boiler room.
``I've got a godsend in this particular therapist who puts up with this,'' Anderson said.
The part-time guidance counselor works out of a former custodial closet, which is lit by a single naked light bulb. The single toilet for female staff members in the building is in a tiny restroom off the teachers' lounge.
``The more you look around, the more you realize the poor building is crumbling before your eyes,'' Anderson said.
``Most of the things are functional. It's not that anything's falling on anyone's head,'' he added. ``(But) this just doesn't look like a school in 1997.''
The school's needs have become a community issue, taken on by the PTA, neighborhood leaders and even Del. Glenn Croshaw, D-Virginia Beach, who lives in the area. Community and civic leaders approached him about the school's needs, prompting him to add an amendment to the state budget encouraging City Council and the School Board to keep Cooke as a priority for maintenance and renovation work. In the House version of the budget there is also $250,000 intended to benefit Cooke's upgrade.
``I think it's kind of neat that people are as loyal as they are (to the school),'' Croshaw said. ``And that is has that diversity.''
Even as they talk about the school's needs, parents and staff speak positively of the sense of family at Cooke.
Pat Ludwig, an active volunteer at the school and PTA treasurer, taught an afterschool cooking class there. Turning on the hot plates blew a fuse.
``It's amazing that the children do so well,'' she said. ``I couldn't be more pleased with the atmosphere among the teachers and the staff. They're so caring.''
Kathleen Gilliatt, a fourth-grade teacher at Cooke, said the building is a challenge, but the people make her want to stay.
``I've thought many times of leaving and going to a building with better facilities,'' she said. ``But this is really a home kind of place.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot
A resource enrichment class at W.T. Cooke Elementary School meets in
its ``classroom'' - a hallway. Lack of space at Cooke makes this a
common scene.
THE PROJECT: An ongoing modernization study, paid for with money
from the district's Capital Improvement Plan budget, tries to
address the needs of neglected older school buildings.
SCHOOLS UNDER REVIEW: The elementary schools Cooke, Creeds, Bayside,
Shelton Park, Thalia, Woodstock, Kempsville Meadows and Luxford are
being studied. A second group of eight would be looked at next.
OTHER PROJECTS
The School Board is expected to vote on the proposed 1997-2003 CIP
at its Feb. 18 meeting. It must then be adopted by the City Council.
Other new projects in the plan include:
Fourteen classroom additions and facility upgrades to Kempsville
Middle School, $2.5 million
Renovation and replacement of playground equipment at 52
elementary schools, $729,000 (This is a joint effort with the
city's Department of Parks and Recreation for a total cost of about
$1.46 million.)
Grounds work including sidewalk replacements, parking lot and
playground resurfacing, storm drainage repairs, $3.3 million.
Renovations and replacements to exterior bleachers at 10 middle
and high schools to bring them into compliance with current
regulations, $985,000.
Ten classroom additions, new media center and other work at
College Park Elementary, $2.1 million.
NOT INCLUDED
Almost $22 million in projects was requested but not included in the
proposed CIP. They included:
Renovation and modernization of areas not included in fire
restoration at Princess Anne High School, $2 million.
Construction of indoor track facility requested by Beach District
Principals Association, $8 million.
Construction of track and locker rooms with restrooms and showers
at Kemps Landing Magnet School, $500,000.
Enclosing breezeways and renovating locker rooms at Bayside
Middle School, $1.5 million.
Installing operable windows at Cox High, $100,000.