THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503170178
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
School officials this week proposed a shift in attendance zones that would affect three elementary schools in the growing Western Branch section of the city.
The plan is to make room for growth and to relieve overcrowding at Chittum Elementary by shifting students to Western Branch Primary and Intermediate schools. Chittum has an enrollment of 771 students this year in a building designed for 650.
``Almost everything in the way of growth is in the Chittum zone,'' said Lenard J. Wright, the school system's program administrator for planning and development.
The Western Branch schools will have room for extra students.
Western Branch Primary has 528 students this year in a building that can hold 750. Western Branch Intermediate has 615 students and a building capacity of 700. Both schools are getting additions, which will boost the primary school's capacity to 800 and the intermediate school's capacity to 850.
The current boundary between Chittum Elementary and the Western Branch elementary schools runs roughly west through Drum Point Creek, up to Bruce Road and along some railroad tracks to the city's border with Suffolk.
School planners presented the School Board with three options for shifting that line, beginning in the fall of 1996. The option Wright and other school officials are endorsing is the one that would push the Western Branch schools' boundary south to Portsmouth Boulevard.
The other two proposals are variations of the preferred one. One would leave a largely undeveloped chunk of land north of Portsmouth Boulevard and west of Interstate 664 in the Chittum zone. The other would leave the Stonebridge Landing community, including the Pin Oak Townhomes, in the Chittum zone.
Wright said, however, that moving the entire boundary line to Portsmouth Boulevard would provide the most relief to Chittum.
Under that proposal, Chittum would have an enrollment of about 575 students, a 25 percent reduction. Western Branch Primary would have an enrollment of nearly 630 kids, while Western Branch Intermediate would have nearly 720.
Students from both zones would continue to attend Western Branch middle and high schools.
Wright said he is working now to inform parents in the affected areas about the proposals. He made presentations at several Parent-Teacher Association meetings this week. Some Chittum parents expressed concern about the change, he said.
The School Board will hold two public hearings for citizens interested in commenting on the proposals. The first will be on May 8, and the second on June 12. Both are scheduled to be held during the board's regular meetings, which begin at 7 p.m. in the board room of the school administration building on Cedar Road. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
CHANGING SCHOOL ATTENDANCE ZONES
Staff Graphic by ROBERT D. VOROS
Research by ELIZABETH THIEL
Chesapeake is looking to relieve overcrowding at Chittum Elementary
School. Three options for redrawing the attendance zones between
Chittum and its neighborhoods - Western Branch Primary and
Intermediate - have been presented by school planners. They're
endorsing the third option.
Includes the folowing Maps:
Current School Zones
Zoning Option 1
Zoning Option 2
Zoning Option 3
For copy of maps, see microfilm
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE SCHOOL BOARD
CHESAPEAKE SCHOOLS
by CNB