Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 8, 1992 TAG: 9201080277
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
SCHOOL REDISTRICTING PROPOSAL AIRED
A plan to redraw school district lines in Christiansburg to take into account the new Falling Branch Elementary School was presented Tuesday night to the Montgomery County School Board.The new school needs to mirror the community, Superintendent Harold Dodge told the board. Based on different indicators of the social and economic characteristics of the pupil population, each of the three Christiansburg primary and elementary schools will mirror each other following the redistricting, he said.
An attendance-line committee, made up of parents of children in the Christiansburg schools and designed to represent a cross-section of the community, developed the attendance plan for the new school.
"One of the things we wanted to be sure of is we did not split neighborhoods," said J.C. Callahan, who is principal of Christiansburg Primary School and will be principal of the new Falling Branch school when it opens in the fall.
Callahan emphasized that under the plan, pupils will be assigned to the school in the attendance zone where they reside. Although that may pose a hardship for parents whose child care is outside their school attendance area, pupils must stay in their zones to stabilize enrollment at each school, the committee decided.
This may be the most controversial part of the plan when public hearings are held next week, Callahan told the board.
Callahan noted that changes in the zones schools could be made in the future to reflect shifts in enrollments. The last major shift in Christiansburg attendance zones was 25 years ago.
The initial enrollment at the Falling Branch school would be higher than at Christiansburg Primary and Christiansburg Elementary because the proposed attendance area for those two schools is expected to grow.
Based on projections for next year, the three schools would have 1,246 pupils and 55 teachers. Falling Branch would have 421 pupils and 19 teachers; Christiansburg Primary, 418 pupils and 19 teachers; and Christiansburg Elementary, 407 pupils and 17 teachers.
The board needs to make a decision on the new school district in February so that parents can be notified, Callahan said.
Callahan will hold public meetings Tuesday at Christiansburg Primary and Jan. 16 at Christiansburg Elementary. The School Board is scheduled to take final action on the plan Feb. 18.