Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991 TAG: 9103130187
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE: WOODSTOCK LENGTH: Medium
The Shenandoah County School Board voted against the superintendent's recommendation to close Fort Valley School. But the vote Monday night was close, 3-2, and the board left the long-term fate of the school undecided.
Even one of the board members who voted to keep Fort Valley open for another year said the school's days are numbered.
"I think it is inevitable. I think the Fort Valley School will be closed," said board member Donald E. Sager.
David Evans, president of the Fort Valley Parent-Teacher Organization, said the school's supporters will take what they can get.
"We're thrilled with the `yes' vote, but we're not real thrilled with how long the `yes' vote will last," he said. "They're telling us that this is the best they can do and I appreciate that. They could have closed it right there. It was close."
The two-room school has about 30 pupils in grades one through six. Principal Peter Clements said the Department of Education told him the school was the state's smallest.
Board member Gerald Canody said Fort Valley has the highest standardized test scores in the county.
Board member Elizabeth Cottrell said closing Fort Valley would be "a distinct disadvantage to the students and the community."
Sager said keeping the school open for an extended period would be an "injustice" to parents and pupils elsewhere in the county who do not enjoy Fort Valley's small pupil-teacher ratio and other benefits. The school has two teachers, one of whom is Clements. Clements teaches grades four through six and Nancy Stephens teaches grades one through three.
Sager said the board was being unfair by leaving the long-term fate of the school undecided, but there was no talk of a specific plan to close it later.
by CNB