Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 27, 1993 TAG: 9301270161
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WALL BETWEEN SCHOOLS TORN DOWN
A wall blocking access between Lucy Addison Aerospace Magnet School and the Alternative Education Center has been torn down because it violated the Roanoke fire code.The wall was built in September, two weeks after an alternative-education student was shot on school grounds.
School administrators had said the wall, which sealed off a hallway between the schools, was erected to create additional classroom and storage space for alternative education.
Others believed the wall was erected for other reasons.
"The only thing I can say is that a few people might have been afraid for students from Addison to be around our students," said Ray Williams, an administrative assistant at the Alternative Education Center.
Actually, two walls were erected after the shooting. A solid wall was built just beyond the last classroom used by Addison, in a corridor that connects the Addison and the alternative-education wing.
A second wall with a door - about 25 feet from the solid wall - was built to create a separate entrance to the alternative-education center.
David Rickman, Roanoke's deputy fire marshal, said the solid wall created a dead-end corridor that violated the fire code. The second wall, leading to the alternative ed center, still stands but is kept locked on one side, he said.
"Alternative ed cannot come back through the other way," Rickman said.
The alternative education center has beefed up security since the shooting. Three television monitors were installed in the front office a week ago. Security officers patrol the hallways.
Going about the business of education was difficult for the center after the shooting, Williams said.
"It was a hardship," he said. "It was hard to teach; hard to have school. We want things to return to normal."
Addison Principal Beverly Burks says he, too, wants to put the incident behind him.
"There's too much controversy over these two programs being here that I feel is not necessary," Burks said. "We're not having any problems here."
But one parent of an Addison student believes otherwise. Molly Bratton went before the Roanoke School Board last week demanding solutions to safety concerns.
Her remarks were interpreted by some board members as racist - in particular, what was perceived as a link between low-income students and violence.
But Bratton, a former Salem resident who now lives in Goodview, said the idea that her presentation would be interpreted as racist was "stupid."
"Why would I have allowed my son to leave Salem and go to Addison if I was concerned about a racial issue?" she asked.
Bratton said she is more concerned about the safety of Addison students.
"There have been demonstrated violent events as a result of the alternative ed center being there," she said. "These children are all at risk."
The center serves students who are unable to cope with regular classrooms. Its enrollment of 200 seventh- through 12th-graders includes some problem children, Williams said.
"They are good kids. Life has not been as kind to them as it has to some of us, so they end up here," he said.
"But they are not gun-toters."
The center maintains a good relationship with Addison staff, students and parents, Williams said.
Still, "there are people who probably wish we would go away."
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.