
DATE: Tuesday, August 26, 1997              TAG: 9708260368

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY YOUNG, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   81 lines

CHESAPEAKE REINS IN SCHOOL BUILDING PLANS AS CITY'S GROWTH SLOWS

It looks like Chesapeake will be having only about 4,500 additional students in the next five years, only 9,000 or so in the next decade.

Only?

In a city with a history of rapid growth, those thousands of students are less than would have been expected even a year ago as the city school administration proposes a modest scaling back of its five- and 10-year school building plans.

``There is the idea that growth has slowed in the city. It hasn't stopped, but it has slowed down,'' Superintendent W. Randolph Nichols said at Monday night's School Board meeting, when board members got their first public look at the proposals. ``The plan before you is reflective of that slow-down.''

The five-year plan includes 19 projects, including building three elementary and two middle schools, replacing Deep Creek Intermediate with a new building, and additions and renovations to four other schools. Total cost of the plan is estimated at just over $163 million.

The greatest need for classroom space will be in the Western Branch planning area, but all areas of the city are expected to experience growth.

The slowed growth will not necessarily cancel projects, but it will put some on hold while the district monitors the numbers over the next few years, said Len Wright, the district's program administrator for planning and development.

``The impact is on the timing of the projects,'' Wright said. ``It's not saying that we don't need these projects any more or that we do away with the projects.''

The delayed project that drew the most questions from board members Monday night was a new elementary school in the southeastern section of the city. The administration proposed delaying building the school until 1999 and opening it in 2002.

Board members questioned the delay and noted that Southeastern Elementary is already beyond capacity.

``I think the growth is going to continue,'' said board member Thomas L. Mercer Sr.

Wright responded that while there was growth, there wasn't enough to warrant a ``need to push forward with all possible speed.'' He said that both Butts Road Primary and Hickory Elementary were not filled to capacity yet and that some of the problems might be solved by adjusting attendance zones. There was also a question of whether additional sewer lines to the area would be approved.

Wright warned that moving too quickly might put the district in the position of having an underutilized school, particularly if plans to develop the area fall through.

``I'm saying that when the year 2001 comes along, there's not going to be enough students to justify a new school, without one of them being at half capacity,'' Wright said.

The plan also includes funding to upgrade the ventilation systems in three intermediate schools that have had poor air quality. One of the schools, Great Bridge Intermediate, had a pilot system installed this summer, and testing will be done to see if it improves air quality.

The School Board has scheduled a public hearing on the plan at its next meeting, Sept. 8, and again Sept. 29 in the school administration building. Those wishing to speak should call 547-1047. ILLUSTRATION: THE PLAN

Chesapeake's public school administration is proposing a

five-year building plan with 19 projects totaling just over $163

million. The plan includes:

Two new middle and three new elementary schools.

Acquiring land for several new school sites.

Four school additions, and extensive renovations at three of

those schools.

Architectural and engineering plans for one high school and one

elementary school and for an addition to one middle school.

Replacement of Deep Creek Intermediate with a new building

Building a parking/storage facility for buses.

Enrollment projections