THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 3, 1995 TAG: 9509010176
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 181 lines
When schoolhouse doors open Tuesday, there will be 900 more students needing desks, lockers and class assignments than there were last year.
In the state's fastest-growing city, that's not unusual. The school system is expanding at an astounding rate. Over the past five years, enrollment in Chesapeake public schools has increased by 5,800 to its present level of about 35,000 students. And the kids are expected to keep on coming.
The School Board's continuing challenge is to find space for all of them.
Monday, school officials proposed to the board a five-year, $172.9 million plan to buy land, build new schools and renovate or expand old ones.
The board must now consider the annual Capital Improvement Plan, approve it or a variation of it and pass it along to City Council for consideration. The board is scheduled to take action Sept. 25, and it will hold public hearings in the meantime.
The proposed plan includes money for seven new schools, a new building to replace an existing school, eight school additions with simultaneous renovations to seven of them and new roofs for four schools.
The plan proposes to spend $6.7 million more this school year than anticipated when council approved it last year - $16.9 million instead of $10.2 million. In 1997-98, there would be $21.7 million more spent, and in 1998-99 the total would be $5.7 million more than previously budgeted.
The only year in which the budget would decrease would be 1996-97, when spending for capital improvements would be $19.4 million instead of the $25.3 million previously approved by council, a difference of $5.9 million.
The increases, said Steven M. Gilbert, the school system's administrative director for operations, are in part attributable to a significant boost in construction costs.
This year, the state's average cost for constructing schools is $90 per square foot; in 1993-94, the cost was only $73 per square foot, Gilbert said. By the time some projects in the plan are ready for construction, the cost could rise to $97 per square foot, he said.
Technology demands also are rising, he said, which adds to a new school's price tag.
To offset construction expenses, school officials also are proposing some attendance zone shifts and grade reconfigurations. They hope that would spread students more evenly between crowded and undercapacity schools, reducing the need to build new classrooms.
The goal of the school system's building plan is to keep pace with enrollment and significantly reduce the city's fleet of portable classrooms, which now tops 330.
But even the best of plans will have to be monitored and modified over the next few years to keep pace with increasing enrollment, said Superintendent W. Randolph Nichols.
``Our city is continually growing,'' he said. ``And even if you approve the plan the way it is, and the city funds it, that's not the end of it.'' MEMO: The School Board will hold work sessions on the Capital Improvement Plan
Sept. 11, 18 and 25. Public hearings will be held Sept. 11 and 25 at 7
p.m. in the school administration building at the city's municipal
complex on Cedar Road.
ILLUSTRATION: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
Here's what school officials have proposed to handle growth over
the next five years. For ease of planning, officials divide the city
into seven areas based on the schools there:
Western Branch
An addition and renovation to Western Branch High School, which
gets under way this year, is scheduled to be completed in January
1997. The money for the project already has been allocated.
A new middle school would be constructed in 1997-98 to relieve
crowded Western Branch Middle School. Council last year approved
$24.5 million for the project. Design and construction costs now are
estimated at $29 million, an increase of $4.5 million. The land
would be free, given to the city by developers.
A new elementary school in the Chittum area would be postponed
from 1997-98 to just after the turn of the century, but the cost
would likely go up from the $10.8 million already budgeted. The land
would be free, given to the city by developers. In the meantime,
attendance zones between Chittum Elementary and Western Branch
Primary and Intermediate schools would be shifted to relieve
Chittum.
Oscar F. Smith
Oscar Smith High School would get a $5.8 million addition in
1998-99, two years sooner than planned.
The new Thurgood Marshall Elementary, scheduled to be completed
within the next couple of weeks to serve kindergarten through third
grades, would be refocused to house students through the fifth
grade. That would provide relief to crowded G.W. Carver
Intermediate.
Indian River
The second phase of an addition and renovation project at Indian
River High gets underway this year, and it is scheduled for
completion in the fall of 1996. That project already has been
funded.
Norfolk Highlands Primary this year would get a $5.7 million
renovation and addition, to be completed in 1997-98. Council must
approve the expense, which was not budgeted in last year's plan
because the school system was conducting a study to see whether the
project was feasible.
Sparrow Road Intermediate and Georgetown Primary would get
additions and renovations in 1997-98, to be completed in 1999-2000.
Council last year approved $7.8 million for those projects, but the
cost would go up to $13 million.
Land for a new high school would be purchased in 1996-97. City
Council last year approved $1.5 million, but the cost is projected
to go down to $1.2 million. The school would be built after the turn
of the century.
Crestwood
A new middle school would be constructed in 1997-98, to be open
just after the turn of the century. City Council last year approved
$24.8 million for the project, but the cost now is projected to
reach $30 million.
A new elementary school would be constructed in 1997-98, to open
in 1999-2000. City Council last year approved $11.3 million, but the
cost now is budgeted to increase to $13.6 million. The price of the
land to be purchased this year, however, is expected to decrease
from the $1 million originally planned to $966,900.
Crestwood Middle School would get an addition and renovation
after the turn of the century.
Deep Creek
Construction is under way on a new middle school, scheduled to
open in September 1997, and the new Hickory High School, expected to
open in the fall of 1996. Construction also is underway on an
addition and renovations to Deep Creek Middle, scheduled for
completion in January of 1997. Camelot Elementary also is getting a
face lift and addition, to be finished in the fall of 1996. The
money for those projects already has been allocated.
Deep Creek High would get an addition and renovation, which would
be designed this year and would be finished in 1997-98. City Council
last year approved $7.9 million for the project, but cost estimates
have increased to $10.9 million.
A new high school would be constructed in the Grassfield area of
the city to relieve Deep Creek, Great Bridge and the new Hickory
high schools. Land would be purchased in 1996-97 for $804,600, up
from the $774,200 council approved last year. Construction would not
begin until after the turn of the century.
Demolition of Deep Creek Intermediate and construction of a
building to replace it would be pushed back one year, from 1996-97
to 1997-98. Construction, originally budgeted for $9.7 million,
would increase to $13.1 million.
Construction of a new elementary school in the Grassfield area
would be moved up a year to 1999-2000. The school would open in
2001-2002, and would cost $15.7 million to design and construct.
Attendance zones for Deep Creek Intermediate, Deep Creek
Elementary, Deep Creek Central Elementary, Camelot Elementary,
Treakle Elementary and Hickory Elementary would be shifted to make
the best use of space in the area.
Great Bridge/Hickory
Construction is under way this year on a new Hickory Middle
School, which will replace the old Great Bridge Middle North. The
new building is scheduled for completion in September of 1997, and
funding already has been allocated.
Construction is under way this year on a new elementary school on
Cedar Road to relieve crowded Great Bridge Primary and Intermediate
schools. The school is scheduled to be completed by fall of 1996.
Design work already has been done for an addition and renovation
to Great Bridge High. Construction would begin this year and would
be finished in 1997-98, but the cost would go up from $7.1 million
to $7.8 million.
Great Bridge Middle School South would get an addition and a
facelift after the turn of the century, with nearly $1 million in
design work commencing in 1999-2000.
The purchase of land for another new middle school in the Hickory
area, planned for 1997-98, would be pushed back to 1998-99. The cost
would be about the same - $1.3 million.
Planning for a second new elementary school in the Great Bridge
area would be moved up a bit - the land would be purchased this year
for $644,600. Design and construction would begin next year for a
total cost of $14.2 million. The school would open in 1999-2000.
Attendance zones between Butts Road Primary and Intermediate,
Great Bridge Primary and Intermediate and Southeastern Elementary
could be shifted to make better use of space.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE SCHOOLS CHESAPEAKE SCHOOL BOARD by CNB