DATE: Thursday, November 13, 1997           TAG: 9711130482

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY YOUNG, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   50 lines

SCHOOL FORUM OUTLINES GREATER FINANCIAL NEED

The school system has greatly decreased its reliance on portable classrooms, greatly increased the number of computers in the classroom and developed a reputation for quality schools, Superintendent W. Randolph Nichols told an audience of business people and educators Wednesday.

``We plan not only to keep that reputation intact, but to add to it,'' Nichols said, during a state of the schools address sponsored by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. He cited City Council support as a reason for some of the improvements and stressed the need for continued assistance from the city.

That may not be so easy if the state makes it harder for the city to raise revenue - for example by repealing the car tax - and continues its policy of not funding school construction projects, said Mayor William E. Ward.

``We applaud Dr. Nichols for our quality schools,'' Ward said. ``But we cannot afford a hole in our present sources of revenue.''

Without additional funding help from the state, Ward said it would be ``almost impossible'' for the city to pay for the $218 million in capital projects the school system is proposing over the next five years.

In the past two years, the system has opened four new schools and reduced its reliance on portable classrooms from a high of 342 two years ago to about 175 today, Nichols said.

He said technology is now a ``basic'' and the system has concentrated on increasing the number of computers for student use. In the 1994-95 school year the district had one computer for every 25 students; now there is one computer for every 10 students. He said the goal is to have a ratio of one to five.

Ward acknowledged the schools are a draw for businesses looking to settle in the city.

``One of the things they look at is the ability of the school system to produce technically trained workers because they want to hire internally,'' Ward said. ``Our schools do an excellent job of that.''

Lynn Pierce, senior vice president of Central Fidelity National Bank, which co-sponsored the event, said he has seen the improvement in teaching technology in his own three children's education, now in elementary, middle and high school.

``The younger kids are doing a lot more, earlier. It is amazing to see how my fourth grader has no problem getting on the Internet,'' said Pierce, who also volunteers at Greenbrier Intermediate and is a member of the district's vocational advisory committee. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Nichols cites City Council support as a reason for some of the

school system's greatest improvements.

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