
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 16, 1993                   TAG: 9312160236
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

ALLENS CHOOSE HENRICO SCHOOL

Gov.-elect George Allen and his wife, Susan, plan to send their daughter to an elementary school in suburban Henrico County rather than a city school near the Executive Mansion.

Susan Allen said Tyler Allen, 5, will attend Short Pump Elementary School in western Henrico County. She now attends kindergarten at an Albemarle County public school near the family's Earlysville home.

"We spent a lot of time looking at a lot of different schools and in the whole surrounding area and Richmond city," Susan Allen said in an interview.

She said she chose Short Pump in large part because one of Tyler's friends from Earlysville moved to Henrico last year and attends the school.

"I think it will be a real smooth transition and a fun one for her. She's kept up with this little girl ever since she moved," Allen said. "That was a big factor."

Allen said political considerations did not play a part in choosing the school, although their daughter's schooling became an issue in the campaign.

To demonstrate his support for public education, George Allen repeatedly mentioned that his daughter attended a public school. But he and Susan Allen declined to say whether they would send Tyler to a Richmond public school if he won the election.

In the final days of the campaign, the Allens said they would send Tyler to a public school in the Richmond area. Because the mansion is on state property, the governor's children can enroll in any local school district.

"We are delighted and excited about her coming here," Patricia Van Tuyle, principal of the 700-pupil Short Pump Elementary, said Wednesday. "We try to create a warm, caring environment for all the students."

Henrico is one of the state's most affluent school districts. Its superintendent, William Bosher, has been tapped by Allen to become the state superintendent of public instruction in the new Republican administration.

Susan Allen said she visited schools in Henrico, Richmond and Hanover County.

"I never told any of the schools who I was when I went in. I wanted to see how they would treat someone off the street. One school in particular was very rude, and I would never, ever send my child there. They shall remain nameless," she said.

Previous governors with school-age children have handled the education question differently. Republican Gov. Linwood Holton and Democratic Gov. Charles Robb sent their children to Richmond schools. The children of Democratic Gov. Gerald Baliles attended private school.

by CNB