
DATE: Sunday, September 28, 1997            TAG: 9709290249

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY YOUNG, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   93 lines

SOUTH NORFOLK DEBATES REALIGNMENT

Technically, the public hearing Monday on how best to use the old Truitt Junior High School is simply a chance for people to comment on the district's 13 options for the building.

But even though it's not on the agenda, the real issue is whether South Norfolk schools should stick with primary and intermediate schools or switch to a system that keeps students in the same building from kindergarten through the fifth grade.

While board members, administrators and parents agree that K-5 alignment is a good idea in theory, not all believe it can work in South Norfolk.

They acknowledge that the change could boost parental involvement and, in turn, test scores, but they fear it could also disrupt racial balance, split communities and lead to costly renovations.

The debate has divided board members on what is best for the schools involved: Portlock Primary, Carver Intermediate, Rena B. Wright, Truitt and Thurgood Marshall, which currently is a K-5 school.

They will be looking for guidance from the public when they meet at the school administration building at 7 p.m. Monday.

Michelle Dougherty says she'll be there to give it. Dougherty supports K-5 schools because she thinks they will improve parental involvement, which has been a challenge for her as president of Portlock's PTA.

``I think it's more likely that parents will become involved with one school versus having to be involved with two, especially if it's right in their neighborhood, possibly in walking distance,'' said Dougherty, a parent of a preschooler and a second-grader.

Dougherty said that many of the parents on Portlock's PTA are also PTA members for Carver Intermediate. That means two meetings twice a month, plus school activities.

``When both parents work - after they've worked all day -it's difficult to be involved in the schools and still have that family time,'' Dougherty said.

School Board member L. Thomas Bray knows the feeling - he has three children in three different schools in Great Bridge. But Bray warns that setting up K-5 schools in South Norfolk could be costly because Rena B. Wright, one of the area's primary schools, is too small to accommodate a K-5 population. Carver and Truitt, he added, are set up for older elementary-age groups and would have to be converted.

``I think K-5 is the best setting,'' said Bray. ``I don't think anyone on the board or staff would argue that K-5 isn't the ideal, where it's feasible.''

In addition to their cost concerns, Bray and fellow board member James M. Reeves aren't convinced that there is community consensus on the issue. They said most of the calls supporting K-5 alignment have come from parents in the Portlock community.

Reeves said the tenor of many of the calls has indicated more of an antipathy toward children going to Carver Intermediate, which has below-average test scores, than a concern about improving parental involvement.

Of the district's 13 options on the Truitt building, which will be available next September, four offer ways to convert the schools to K-5.

Superintendent W. Randolph Nichols said he couldn't recommend any of the four options because they would disrupt the racial balance and drastically change attendance zones.

Portlock Primary and Carver Intermediate are currently the most racially balanced schools in South Norfolk. Portlock is divided roughly in half between black and white students, and Carver is 60 percent black and 40 percent white.

Three of the four K-5 options would make Carver predominantly black and Portlock predominantly white.

A fourth option would leave the schools almost as racially balanced, but would change attendance zones and leave Carver overcrowded.

School Board member Jeffrey A. Rowland said the motivation behind changing the schools in South Norfolk ``is not about race'' but about improving the academic performance of the schools. South Norfolk's schools - which generally have a high percentage of students from economically disadvantaged families - could be in danger of losing state accreditation if their standardized test scores don't improve.

``I'm not saying this is a panacea,'' said Rowland of the K-5 alignment. ``But we have the opportunity to turn not only one school, but a whole community, around academically.'' ILLUSTRATION: TING-LI WANG photos/The Virginian-Pilot

Gloria Simmons' kindergartners learn how to write their names at

Thurgood Marshall Elementary School. Her pupils, from left to right,

are Denzel Luckett, Brittany Gossert and Brandi German. Marshall's

students range from kindergarteners to fifth-graders.

Beryl Rooks is principal of Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in

South Norfolk. Under a proposal being debated, other schools in the

area may also teach kindergartners through fifth-graders.

Graphic

DETAILS

Monday's public hearing on the use of the old Truitt Junior High

School building will take place at 7 p.m. during the School Board's

regular meeting. Those interested in speaking before the board