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Six elementary school buildings were declared surplus
By MARY EVA CASSADA
Special to The News & Record
Six elementary school buildings were declared surplus and turned back
over to either the government of Halifax County or South Boston at
school Trustees' November meeting this week.
With the schools closed and their populations folded into new or
existing facilities, the old buildings are no longer needed.
Two are returned with a request that ball teams be allowed to play on
the property, and Turbeville Elementary is returned with the request
that the Turbeville Fire Department, which sits on school land, not be
uprooted.
(Washington-Coleman goes to the South Boston Town Council; the rest go
to the Halifax County Supervisors.)
Trustees methodically voted one-by-one on each school with little
comment until Halifax Elementary came up.
The staff had worked up figures of what it would cost to re-open
Halifax Elementary on Mountain Road as a Law & Leadership satellite
Academy of the high school.
Immediate needs, the report said, totaled $149,000. Long-term fix-up
would be more than $1 million.
Trustee Joe Bailey Jr. quickly moved to accept the surplus resolution
for the old school, but Chairman D.H. McDowell interjected that
Trustee-elect Joe Gasperini had asked the Board to delay the decision
until the five new Trustees were installed in January.
Gasperini, who was in the audience, stood to say that the structure
might be needed — especially in light of the possible closing of the
pre-K center in South Boston. (See related story.)
"There're no guarantees we would ever get it back," said Gasperini, who
had won Bailey's seat one week prior.
Trustees Steve Anderson and Arthur Reynolds indicated they saw
Gasperini's point, yet they cited the tight purse strings of the
Supervisors.
Ultimately, the board voted with a 6-2 split. Trustees Sandra Rister
and Kelly Hill voted against declaring Halifax surplus.
In other action at the Trustees' marathon meeting Monday (which ran
about three hours before going into a two-hour closed-door session for
discipline cases):
"All Halifax County Public Schools are "fully accredited" by the state
based on last springí' Standards of Learning (SOL) tests in core
subjects — except for the Middle School, which is "warned in math."
Sixty-seven percent of seventh graders passed the test, but the
benchmark was 70 percent. Regardless, said Joe Griles, executive
director of instruction, that percentage is a huge jump from the
previous year, when only 47 percent passed. Principal Gail Bosiger said
math competency is a high priority. According to the state Department
of Education, 91 percent of schools were accredited; 6 percent got
warnings.
Results for all Virginia schools are available at:
School Finance Director Bill Covington said the high price of diesel
fuel is throwing off the budget. This time last year, his buses were
burning fuel at about $2.09 per gallon. This year, it's already $2.58
and threatening to climb higher.
"Weí'l have to compensate in other areas," he said, probably by
delaying the purchase of equipment until spring.
The Class Photos Committee of Trustees Joe Bailey Jr., Sandra Rister
and Kelly Hill was re-activated in anticipation of the old
photos'imminent restoration. Trustees still haven't decided where to
put the photos. The composite photos of every graduate's face were
removed from the walls of the Middle School (which was once a high
school) during its major renovation. Alumni balked at the photos being
dispersed, and the School Board agreed to keep the photos together.
Now, the Trustees are seeking similar photos from Mary Bethune High
School, which served African-American students in the years before
integration. Bethune alumni with information or photos may contact the
School Board office at 476-2171.
Middle School students in the SMART lab (and the school's new faÁade)
are part of a NASA webcast soliciting entries in a contest to answer
what's NASA's greatest exploration achievement in the past 50 years,
and why. Entries aren't to be in essay form; they must be podcasts.
(The teacher in pink is Lisa Hansen; the student holding the milk
carton is Bryant Brooks.)
The snappy, flip webcast may be viewed at: HYPERLINK
College Access counselor Idona Goode reported that she took 24 students
to visit Virgina Tech. Eleven of the students who applied were
accepted, and five are on a waiting list. The program seeks to acquaint
underrepresented minorities with state colleges.