
DATE: Monday, November 17, 1997             TAG: 9711170087

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Series 

SERIES: Part Two 

SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  108 lines

CREATIVITY IS THE FOUNDATION OF SCHOOL-BUILDING PROGRAM ACCOMACK USED A FEW NEW TWISTS TO RAISE THE FUNDS IT NEEDED.

Part two of a series.

It's a quiet ride along rural U.S. Route 13 on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Crab stands, fireworks vendors and tourist stops line the highway. Tractor-trailers crammed with chickens may be the most familiar sight.

But off the main roadways of Accomack County, there's a great deal of construction going on.

Barges carry bundles of wood, windows and drywall to tiny Tangier Island. And in Parksley, bricks and lumber are often seen.

At a time when many localities are tightening the grip on their purses, folks in this part of the state - just across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel from Norfolk, beyond Northampton County and extending to the Maryland border - are doing just the opposite.

Accomack County is in the midst of an aggressive school building program. For about $26 million, four new schools - Tangier Island Elementary, Chincoteague Elementary, and North Central and South Central elementary schools - are being built. Two others, North and South Accomack Elementary Schools, are undergoing renovation.

Two years ago, the county's school superintendent spent at least two nights of every week talking with residents and decision-makers.

As far as Bill Owings is concerned, the effort was well worth it.

``We have been imminently successful,'' Owings said. ``When you are poor and rural, and when most Virginians don't know you are even part of the state, you have to be creative.''

Creative has become this school system's motto.

Like Suffolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, Accomack had its share of old and overcrowded schools. Most or all of the county's schools lacked air conditioning, so it was not unusual for the 5,500 students to endure temperatures of 115 degrees - before summer.

The county also had a hard time persuading policy-makers to fork over funds to stop the short-term solution of mobile classrooms from becoming permanent. A $51.8 million school bond was overwhelmingly rejected by voters four years ago, and more than 20 building plans were discarded by officials.

After the bond defeat, Accomack school administrators decided to regroup. They made a list of the county's 13 schools that needed help first.

Then, in 1995, they asked 52 members of the community to form a building committee to make recommendations only on the county's elementary school needs.

It was the community representation that sold Donald L. Hart Jr., a county supervisor.

``I liked it, because it was a community plan from start to finish,'' Hart said. ``They also didn't go overboard. It was cut down to the bare minimum.''

Board members say they were also swayed by the different kind of financing that the school system recommended.

Instead of the county's issuing bonds to borrow the millions of dollars, the school board issued certificates of participation. Just like bonds, the certificates need investors. But unlike bonds, the school board could reinvest the money generated by the certificates.

Accomack's certificates were issued at 5 percent interest. Then the school system reinvested the money it borrowed at a higher interest rate. By next summer, when the county's four new schools are ready to open, the school system will have made almost $2 million on the investments.

The money will be used to reduce the overall cost of the building program, Owings said.

The county got even more enterprising.

Community leaders searched for ways to collect more money to pay for the outstanding school debt. Raising taxes was out of the question.

The group recommended that the county sell unused property and that residents pay real estate taxes semi-annually and personal property taxes monthly to increase monthly cash flow.

Gregory L. Duncan Sr., a county board member, said while the financing helped, it was the plan's accountability that got him to agree to the deal.

``I told them, `Let's not get so caught up in buildings that we don't emphasize programs,' '' Duncan said. ``I kept saying, `Give me a combination of both.' This time they outlined new programs and reducing class sizes. We should turn out some pretty good students.''

Those better-educated students will also attend new schools with new names.

North Central Elementary will be renamed Metompkin. Accawmacke is the new name for South Central. The two renovated schools, North and South Accomack, will be called Kegotank and Pungoteague Elementary. Most of the names have come from Indians who lived there.

``We were so creative with everything,'' said Owings, who travels to check out the new schools from time to time, ``we felt like we needed to be creative with the names.''

If you're driving along Route 13, only one of the new schools can be spotted. It's the building with the green roof.

Kind of creative, Owings says, for rural Route 13. MEMO: Suffolk faces spending millions on schools and other needs. How

those dollars are invested now will impact the future of a growing city.

Coming tomorrow, Part 3: Will aging Southwestern Elementary be replaced

with a modern, high-tech school? ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot

Contractors examine the entrance at Accawmacke Elementary, one of

four new Accomack County schools.

Color photo

Bill Owings...

Staff Graphic by Ken Wright

Eastern Shore, Virginia