THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130319
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY YOUNG, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 58 lines
In the next 10 years, the school district is going to need to find space for thousands of new students.
The School Board says it has a plan to do that.
But in the board's proposed capital budget, the City Council, worried about incurring too much debt, has decided to delay funding for some of the projects the district has planned.
Tonight, in a joint work session at City Hall, look for the School Board and the City Council to discuss the age-old problem: what to do when needs outweigh the money to pay for them.
``We have to ask where we're going to be able to put these children,'' School Board member Jeffrey A. Rowland said at the board's regular meeting Monday night.
Some board members, like Rowland, said they were concerned about the city's strategy of funding the first two years of school building projects, but not the last three - potentially leaving the district short when it comes time to finish the projects.
``We build these things like building blocks,'' said James M. Reeves on Monday. ``If they put it off too far in the future, it means money we spend on design and engineering will be wasted because things will change.''
One consequence of delaying the projects might be that the city's trend of decreasing the use of portables will be reversed.
``Portables will start appearing more, but we haven't gotten to that point yet,'' said School Board Chairman Barbara B. Head.
If the district does get to that point, it may encounter another obstacle: schools that don't have enough land to support further additions or more portables. In some cases, as has already happened in Deep Creek, park land may have to be taken to support the new portables.
``It may mean taking ball parks and all, and I don't want to do that,'' said Rowland. ``How do you tell a kid that he can't play ball this year?''
One way to avert such a scenario is to build new schools - and there are eight new schools in the city's current capital improvement plan, which City Council is scheduled to approve later this month. But some of those projects are the ones for which they have proposed delaying funding.
And so it goes.
Both Rowland and Head said they appreciate the bind City Council members are in as they try to balance school needs with other city needs - especially as the city faces a potential $19 million shortfall over the next two years.
``They can't promise us money that they don't have right now. They can only meet our needs if they've got the funds,'' said Head.
But School Board member Allen H. Goode, Jr. said that even given that bind, the priorities should be clear. ``When it gets down to nuts and bolts, roads or children, the children should come first,'' Goode said. MEMO: The joint work session of the City Council and School Board will
meet at City Hall in the Personnel Training Room on the fourth floor at
6:15 p.m.
KEYWORDS: BUDGET CHESAPEAKE CITY COUNCIL CHESAPEAKE SCHOOLS
CHESAPEAKE SCHOOL BOARD