DATE: Wednesday, October 8, 1997            TAG: 9710080494
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JOHN MURPHY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   44 lines

FIVE TO WORK ON PROBLEM OF SCHOOLS' AGE AT BEACH

City officials are putting their faith in a crew of familiar faces to help solve the growing problem of the city's aging schools.

The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to appoint a five-member commission that will analyze the city's proposed school renovation and reconstruction projects.

The members are no strangers to educational issues. They are:

Dr. E.E. Brickell, a retired superintendent of Virginia Beach public schools and currently president of Eastern Virginia Medical School, who will serve as chairman of the commission.

Dr. C. Fred Bateman, a retired superintendent of Chesapeake public schools, now serving as a Distinguished Educator in Residence at Old Dominion University.

The Rev. E. Ray Cox, pastor, New Hope Baptist Church, Virginia Beach.

Robert W. Lyons, executive director, Builders and Contractors Exchange Inc.

Dr. Elaine Witty, former dean of the School of Education, Norfolk State University, and now the university's acting associate vice president for academic affairs.

``We wanted to get people to serve who had impeccable credentials,'' said Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf.

She said she hopes Beach officials will view the commission as a ``cordial opportunity'' to work with people with years of experience in education and construction.

Oberndorf said the commission will not discuss a bond referendum, which the city has proposed for November 1998 to ask voters to fund new classrooms and facilities for 18 of the city's oldest schools.

Instead, the committee will be charged with analyzing the costs and scope of the renovations.

The school district has already paid $400,000 for a triage of the eight oldest schools, including W.T. Cooke Elementary, which will undergo a $10.5 million renovation beginning next summer.

Another $600,000 has been allocated to complete modernization of 11 other schools.

Oberndorf said the commission will make recommendations on the renovations, making sure the improvements ``enhance'' the education of the city's schoolchildren.

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