By HATTIE BROWN GARROW By Hattie Brown Garrow The Virginian-Pilot SUFFOLK Confronted with slowing growth and changing needs, the city's school division plans to re-evaluate its 10-year capital improvements plan . The School Board will appoint a committee to lead the way.

By HATTIE BROWN GARROW By Hattie Brown Garrow The Virginian-Pilot SUFFOLK Susan Bateman's karate students "looked forward to" an endurance technique requiring the pupils to go into a pushup position and take as many "taps" to the abdomen as they could stand.

In fall 2006, Suffolk had 1,366 ninth-graders. The next year there were 1,078 sophomores, a 21 percent decline .

By HATTIE BROWN GARROW By Hattie Brown Garrow The Virginian-Pilot SUFFOLK Last school year, students with behavioral problems eventually found themselves at the nighttime alternative school .

By HATTIE BROWN GARROW By Hattie Brown Garrow The Virginian-Pilot In Hidalgo County, N.M., school bus rides can last more than an hour one way. That's a lot of diesel fuel.