THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 2, 1995 TAG: 9505310157
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
The school system in Deep Creek is ill-prepared to receive the number of children from developments presently going up on Cedar Road and Galberry Road. The schools currently have 54 mobile units on grounds. This includes the brand-new addition at Deep Creek Central Elementary that just opened in September 1993. In less than three months, two mobile units had to be added. By September, there will be more. This is a clear demonstration that our School Board's building program is not keeping up with the population.
To add to this already-bad situation, the city now plans to add approximately 350 children by approving 120 apartment units in Mill Creek. Though the property was zoned for multi-dwelling housing in 1979, many changes have taken place in this community. The citizens of Mill Creek, Elmwood Landing and Deep Creek do not want this additional burden placed on them. We are asking our elected officials to find a solution and put an end to this madness.
Carolyn D. O'Rourke
Willow Bend Court Elusive dream
George Washington Highway has become a big city parking lot from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day. The Public Works Department has undertaken no recent surveys to determine the extent of this problem. Cedar Road has six or more developments under way that we know about. The city now proposes to add another 200 cars by approving a 120-apartment development at the stoplight at the intersection of George Washington Highway and Cedar Road. More cares, more and longer traffic delay. The citizens of Deep Creek are experiencing the willful destruction of our community. What has happened to the promise of managed growth?
I moved here because I wanted to own a home, and my children to go to good schools. I now see my dream slipping away. My rights as a tax-paying citizen seem to amount to nothing. The elected and appointed officials are not managing growth. They are not finding ways to solve our problems. This site approval adds to an already existing problem. I will remember this at election time in November.
Fernando C. Weeks
Holly Ridge Drive PTA's goals
A Parent-Teacher Association officer recently sent me a copy of the PTA's ``Proposed Legislative Agenda'' for 1996.
Poll after poll indicates that parents want the schools to teach their children the basics. The Virginia PTA, however, though supposedly representing parents, has been busy lobbying for Goals 2000 funding, government intrusion into the lives of preschoolers, the defeat of parental opt-out provisions, the defeat of parental choice in education - even waiting periods for handgun purchases. Will someone please tell me what any of this has to do with educating children? Can anyone recall any of these items being discussed at school PTA meetings?
It is clear to me that the PTA no more represents rank-and-file parents than the Virginia Education Association represents teachers. It is yet another American institution hijacked by socialists and politicized for their own ends.
Chris Evans
Virginia Beach by CNB