By JEAN MORGAN, Staff Writer

NEW SMYRNA BEACH - The principal of New Smyrna Beach High School was a student in the school's halls and classrooms when it opened in 1963. She graduated in the first class in 1964.

But like many other locals, Dr. Carol Anne Kelley now believes the school has outlived its usefulness, and it's time to find a larger site for a new high school to serve Southeast Volusia.

The Volusia County School Board agrees with her and voted unanimously July 27 to build a new high school on a site to be selected.
"I think it's great!" Kelley said about the prospect of a new high school. "We are water-locked here. There is just not enough space for the kind of facility the kids in Southeast Volusia deserve." The current site is only 22 acres. The school opened in 1963 with 600 students; 1,700 will be crammed into the high school this fall.

Kelley is a realist. She knows it will take at least a year for the school board to line up another site. A new facility probably will take between five and six years to build.

She said the new school will need between 60 and 80 acres to accommodate the school, parking area, practice fields and all facilities necessary for a modern high school.

"It's obvious we can't give students of Southeast Volusia the type of school they deserve on 22 acres," said Assistant Principal A.G. Doane. He said the architects suggested adding another floor to the school and also building a parking structure with driver's education classes on the roof.

UNDERSIZED CLASSROOMS
The study showed many classrooms are undersized and restrooms are not handicap accessible. Original buildings are not insulated and there are few central teacher planning areas.

Outlets in classrooms have insufficient power and need more cabling for updated technology. The telephone system is inadequate and many air- conditioning units are "near the end of their useful life," the consultants reported.

The board will decide later about upgrades at the high school, depending on future plans for the buildings.

Consulting architects, along with the community and staff, have recommended to the School Board that between 2000 and 2006 the board acquire a suitable site,

THE PRINCIPAL SPEAKS: Dr. Carol Anne Kelley, principal at New Smyrna Beach High School, was in the school's first graduating class in 1964. Like many, she believes the old school has outlived its usefulness.

form a plan and construct a new high school to serve Southeast Volusia. It should be designed to house 2,000 students.
During that time the board needs to determine the market value of the present site and its improvements and the best use of the present school to benefit the district and Southeast Volusia.
Kelley said there are several areas needing serious renovations. These include the gym, locker rooms and cafeteria. She said the space has not increased since the fall of 1990.

"Nobody thinks we should stay," Kelley said, "but they are concerned about what happens to the building."

The school improvement team, a committee of staff and parents, met regularly last year to help decide the fate of the school. Kelley said suggestions for the high school, once it is vacated, ranged from tearing it down to transforming it into a middle school, a facility for special services or a charter technical school.

"We owe it to the taxpayers to thoroughly investigate all the possibilities.," Kelley said.

Steve Dennis, executive vice president of Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce, admitted the school board probably should look for a new location on the west side of the community.

But it will have an effect, he said, adding, "Anytime you make major changes in the community structure, especially the fabric of community like the high school, it has a strong impact. People have all those memories."

Dennis said the high school needs space to prepare students for opportunities that are coming. "The school has been very innovative about using the room it has, but eventually it runs out," he said.

Dennis graduated from Live Oak High School the year before the new high school opened. "Should a new high school remain in New Smyrna Beach?" Dennis was asked.

"I'm sure it will depend on transportation and population issues, but I'd like to keep it in New Smyrna Beach," he said.

LOTS OF GOOD MEMORIES
Ron Dreggors, a member of the class of 1964, along with Kelley, has a lot of good memories of the existing school. "It was new and exciting to be the first class in the new school," he said. A man with artistic talent, Dreggors said he learned a lot from Mrs. Lee, the art teacher.

He still uses his artistic abilities in his Volusia Printing business. "I'm blessed," said Dreggors. "I can do what I enjoy."

He also believes that because the high school has no room to expand, it should be moved. "I would like to see the property retained as a county or city park," Dreggors said. "There's great access to water. Maybe it would be a good setting for aquaculture."

He suggested a new high school should be somewhere off State Road 44. "I don't see a problem with anywhere that is easy for all residents to access - somewhere centrally located in Southeast Volusia," Dreggors said.