Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 30, 1993 TAG: 9306300007
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On his last day at the office - technically a vacation day - Tota said he was "99 percent sure" the city would receive $7.2 million over the next two years to convert William Fleming High School and Ruffner Middle School into a combined magnet center. The joint school will be divided into centers for science and engineering, global studies, performing and literary arts and a new international baccalaureate program.
The grant - nearly twice as large as previous magnet grants awarded to the city - would bring the number of magnet programs in Roanoke to 32 and the city's total federal magnet assistance to more than $17 million, Tota said.
Provided, of course, it comes through.
Tota said he's so sure it will that he's given the go-ahead to order millions of dollars of new equipment, including a $2 million multimedia technology system, two new airplanes totaling $70,000, another $100,000 in musical instruments and art materials and $100,000 in equipment for a computer-assisted architectural design lab.
And if the grant falls through?
"If the equipment arrives, we just send it back," he said.
The administration's actions didn't sound premature to School Board Chairman Finn Pincus.
"If they're 99 percent sure, I assume that means they know what they're doing," he said.
The U.S. Department of Education could not confirm Tuesday that the city's grant application had met federal approval.
"We haven't made those announcements yet," said David Thomas, a department spokesman.
But the programs - and the restructuring of Fleming and Ruffner into specialized learning centers - will move forward with or without the money or equipment, Tota said. He added that teachers already are being trained for the new programs.
Under the restructuring, all 2,225 Fleming and Ruffner students will become part of the magnet program, he said. Previously, some students participated in magnet programs but others did not.
Students who live in the district served by Fleming and Ruffner will automatically be accepted into one of the three centers, Tota said. Others will have to apply.
Tota said he hopes that many from outside the city will do so. But this is one program he won't be around to check up on.
Thursday, Tota takes over as superintendent of the Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., school system. He will be replaced by E. Wayne Harris, a Fairfax County school administrator and Salem native.
The magnet-school legacy Tota leaves behind has not gone without criticism. Many questioned the need for a Fleming program that helps students earn pilots' licenses before their high school diplomas.
Others have wondered whether the city should be spending more time on the basics and less on specialized programs.
But Tota said even the negative attention was helpful because it made people aware of the magnet schools, which teach everything from aeronautics to the environment. He said the basics are not overlooked but are incorporated into those subjects to become more appealing to students.
Magnet schools receive federal money to prevent white flight from the city by offering special programs to lure students into minority-dominated schools.
Tota said he wants people to remember his role in securing federal grants for two reasons: The money brought better academic programs to the city, and it helped integrate Roanoke schools both racially and socioeconomically.
And it did so voluntarily, he said.
Michael Stewart, who wrote many of the city's magnet-school grant proposals, said this year brought $500,000 to the city schools for a parent training program, $21,000 for a state grant to implement education reforms at Hurt Park Elementary School and money for a summer substance-abuse camp and for homeless schoolchildren.
by CNB