DATE: Tuesday, September 2, 1997            TAG: 9708300007

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL  

TYPE: Editorial  

                                            LENGTH:   69 lines

A PACKAGE DEAL SCHOOL AND LIBRARIES IN VIRGINIA BEACH NEED AN INFUSION OF CASH

State Sen. Ed Schrock and Virginia Beach Public Library Board Chairman Betty Bridges make a persuasive argument for a combined referendum on schools and libraries.

These two library supporters presented their case last week on the editorial page. They wrote: Public libraries and public schools are partners in the education of our children. We are confused by reasoning about referenda issues that separate schools and public libraries as if they are in two different universes instead of being mutually beneficial.

We agree.

Virginia Beach City Council seems stymied by separate requests from library and school supporters to put two referendums to the voters this November. Together, they total $83.4 million and would mean a hike of almost 8 cents in the property tax rate.

There is also a promise of more referendums to fund schools and technology in the coming years.

Funds from the two proposed referendums would go to renovate eight aging school buildings and to greatly improve the city's mediocre library system.

We strongly support public schools and public libraries. Like Schrock and Bridges, we believe that there is a natural symbiosis between these systems: Libraries are an important tool for successful students, and a city with a poor school system is unlikely to support its libraries.

Strong libraries and strong schools are a sign of a well-educated populace.

That being true, Virginia Beach ought to be embarrassed by its library system. There are too few branches, meager collections, abbreviated hours and the computer technology serving the libraries is woefully inadequate.

Likewise, the city's aging schools are a cause for public shame.

The eight worst schools being addressed in the proposed referendum are just the tip of the iceberg. There are at least 16 - perhaps as many as 50 - other schools that need massive renovations.

Beyond issues of bricks and mortar is the confounding question of technology in the schools. Virginia's new Standards of Learning mandate computer proficiency by the commonwealth's students, but they can't meet those standards without hugely expensive technology. Virginia Beach schools desperately need computers and soon the public will be asked to pay for them.

But it makes little sense for the libraries to develop one computer system and the schools another. Surely public money would be better spent if schools and libraries developed computer plans together and purchased the equipment together.

These are tough times for local officials. State money for education is not keeping pace with state education mandates. That means cities have two choices: allow schools to deteriorate for lack of funds or foot the bill for improvements.

We favor footing the bill, but only after a comprehensive study is made of the needs of the schools and library systems. For that reason, we believe the referendums should be deferred for one year.

But once the needs are known and analyzed and rolled into a single referendum package, City Council should resist its natural impulse to procrastinate. Council has developed a bad habit of waiting until the last possible moment to decide whether to include referenda on the ballot.

Last year council delayed a decision about whether to put the Redevelopment and Housing Authority question on the ballot and the measure failed, some say for lack of public awareness.

Last spring, library supporters presented council with a detailed study of library needs. Council sat on it until today.

This procrastination is fair to neither supporters of referendum issues nor opponents. The public needs as much time as possible to fully debate such massive expenditures.

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