DATE: Friday, October 17, 1997              TAG: 9710150118

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: IDA KAY'S PORTSMOUTH 

SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan 

                                            LENGTH:   67 lines

EXCELLENCE SHOULD BE GOAL

A letter in Sunday's Currents from Dr. Elizabeth Daniels raised some questions about my comments on the new I.C. Norcom High School and its reason for being.

Dr. Daniels, a member of the School Board, signed the letter as president of the NAACP. In it, she wondered if I felt the same about Churchland High as I do about Norcom - i.e., we don't need it if it isn't going to attract more people back to public schools and be useful as an economic and community development tool.

She deserves an answer.

Basically, I don't think we should have built either school. Neither the ``old'' Churchland nor the ``old'' Norcom was that old. Neither should have been in such disrepair that they needed to be abandoned. Both had plenty of land around them to expand if needed.

Former City Manager George Hanbury was the champion of the Churchland school. His argument was that we needed to put the old Churchland site on High Street back on the tax books, that it was too valuable as commercial property to be used for a school. Well, finally, after a decade or so, that land is going back on the tax books, but it was a long time coming. Meanwhile, we're still spending money on Churchland trying to get it right.

Parenthetically, the problems at Churchland are one reason I would like to see the School Board delay opening Norcom until next fall, so they can be sure there are no goof-ups, such as the air quality.

So now we've built these two expensive edifices. We must use them as magnets to get those in private schools back into the public schools and to attract good businesses with affluent families to the city because the school programs are good. How else are we going to pay for these buildings?

We must exploit the magnetism of the arts at Churchland and of science and math at Norcom. If we don't, we've wasted the money. That's true for Churchland and true for Norcom, and it has nothing to do with race.

Of course, we do not need for Norcom to be a ``black'' school any more than we need for Churchland to be a ``white'' school. That battle was fought 30 years ago, and the verdict was integration of the schools.

Many people may not remember when the decision to build a new Churchland High was such a hot issue. For those who don't, there was as much opposition to a new Churchland as there was to a new Norcom.

The money to pay for these two new high schools has taken a lot from maintenance of other schools in the city. Almost any time I talk to someone connected with one of the elementary schools, I hear about leaking roofs and other serious problems.

So, what have we got if we have two new edifices and many deteriorating elementary schools?

All schools should be clean, dry and warm. And they should be staffed with good teachers who expect and get the most from children. When those elements are present, I doubt it makes any difference if a child is in a new classroom or a 50-year-old classroom.

That said, I do acknowledge that we can make good use of the spaces and the technology in the new buildings by having special programs in the arts and in the sciences. We must make all of the expensive amenities of the new schools pay off in attracting businesses and people if we are going to pay for the buildings. We must make them the best magnets in the region.

It doesn't matter if we're talking about Churchland or if we're talking about Norcom.

Of course, I never knew I.C. Norcom. But, judging from everything I ever heard about him, I believe he would agree that a new $40 million building is not enough. I believe he would want to make the school an outstanding place of learning for all students - and of excellence unequaled in the region.

That's what I am asking that we do.

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