Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 2, 1993 TAG: 9311020109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's the one next to the handicapped parking place, marked "Principal."
But you'll be lucky to find it empty. With school in session on Election Day, the parking situation isn't going to be pretty.
"Parking at Garden City is always a bit of a challenge," Galbreath said.
Today, 21 Roanoke schools will face the challenge of where to park extra cars, how to route school buses around voter traffic and where to feed or exercise children whose cafeterias and gymnasiums have turned into polling places.
City schools - which usually remain open during City Council elections in May - typically close on November's Election Day, when voter turnout is higher. But this year, Roanoke schools will buck the trend and stay open.
Democracy, meet public education.
"I always thought it was strange, in a way, to close school on Election Day," said Dick Kelley, executive for business affairs for the city school system.
After all, it's the perfect chance for pupils to observe the democratic process, he said. And, it gives citizens a chance to observe Roanoke schools in session.
Kelley said the committee that sets the school calendar opted to stay open this year since Labor Day came so late.
State code prevents schools from opening before Labor Day. As a result, schools in Southwest Virginia - which often have to shut down for several days in the winter because of poor weather - end up staying open well into the hot days of June.
Staying open on Election Day is an attempt to finish the school year "before we end up going to school on the Fourth of July," Kelley said.
Salem and Roanoke County face the same problem, but have decided to shut their doors today. Salem did so at the request of the city's electoral board; Roanoke County, at the request of the registrar.
Staying open on Election Day "turns out to be disruptive to both processes - the election process and school," Roanoke County Assistant Superintendent Deanna Gordon said.
County residents will cast their votes at 17 public schools this year, she said, adding that many parents had asked the county to change its policy and remain open.
"We'll reconsider it this year," she said. "It is reconsidered every year."
Principal Galbreath considers it fun.
To avoid traffic jams in the cafeteria, he arranged to have the pupils' lunches "catered" today. Cafeteria workers switched Monday's and Tuesday's lunch menus - pizza was "too sloppy" to eat in the classroom - and will deliver turkey sandwiches and hamburgers to the pupils' desks.
Breakfast will be served picnic-style in the gym.
"We're looking forward to it," he said.
At Monterey Elementary School, a minor disruption will become a major part of the lesson plan.
Principal George Bell prepared pupils Monday by explaining the importance of Election Day and asking them to be on their best behavior. He also explained that the school would be used for voting, because it is a public building.
After the election, he'll speak to the children about the results, Bell said.
"It can be either a problem or a challenge," he said. "For us, it's a challenge."
Meanwhile, some of the city's high school students are taking the election seriously. Social-studies students at the Fleming-Ruffner Magnet Center are using their new federally paid-for computer system to hold a mock election.
About 500 pupils voted for commissioner of revenue, governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general Monday; another 500 will vote today, said Don Sublett, an electronic specialist hired under a recently awarded $7 million grant that combines the middle and high schools.
As of Monday, the Democratic ticket had a clear victory in the statewide races, said Sublett. Democrat Marsha Fielder was also beating Independent Howard Musser by a 20-point margin in the commissioner's race.
"No surprises for me," Sublett said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB