Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 3, 1994 TAG: 9403030151
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By MARA LEE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The parents, from the rural Catawba area, didn't know when they spoke that Ray Van Dyke, the new school's principal, and the redistricting committee had decided to make no changes after a month of public input.
The plan will move 650 of the 1,800 Blacksburg area elementary pupils among the five elementary schools in the area with 435 going to the new school.
The Catawba Valley community, which now goes to Harding Avenue Elementary, will be moved to Margaret Beeks Elementary under the new plan. Catawba Road runs 10 miles to the county line and has 26 children in the primary grades.
Parents have complained of the rush to approve the plan, the division of the Mount Tabor/Catawba community, the length of the bus ride and the dangerous roads that would be the alternative to Catawba Road.
"Harding Avenue and Catawba Road are one and the same," said Tom Loflin. "The road name just changes at the base of the mountain."
Carol Stone, a mother of three children in Catawba, said, "If you want the public to be satisfied with something, they have to feel involved. Public involvement is not inviting people to a meeting and telling them what will happen."
She said that it's already more difficult for rural children to socialize and that by splitting the Catawba children from Mount Tabor, it was exacerbating the problem.
Stone complained that the redistricting committee, because its members were anonymous, was unaccountable to the community. Bob Wright, a parent who has spoken at several community meetings, suggested use of a "covert committee" could even be illegal.
Christiansburg area redistricting in 1992 was also done by anonymous committee.
Regina Smith, president of the countywide Parent Teacher Association alliance, spoke for the plan. "It is not the building, but those who dwell in it that give it life," she said.
Nearly two hours later, after the board had acted on numerous other issues, it finally took up redistricting. For the first time, the public learned the committee had made no changes in its proposal.
Van Dyke presented the reasons why the committee kept the original plan. He said the plan had received a relatively warm reception at the four community meetings, and emphasized that for every parent discontented with a particular neighborhood's move, another parent could be found who favored the move.
Van Dyke said eight parents have spoken against the Catawba move, two for it. He said Nellies Cave Road is no worse than Catawba Road, and that the bus route on either road should take no longer than 45 minutes.
As to the question that parents didn't know how to get on the committee, or that they were surprised in February, he gave the board a 13-page appendix chronicling information available on redistricting from February through December 1993.
For the other area strongly opposed to the plan, the Clay/Roanoke Street area that is being moved from Beeks to Harding, the committee pointed out that the area was close to Harding. It did not discuss the merits of open schools, the issue that most concerned parents.
The report read: "Many of the issues brought forth had already been dealt with by the committee in their original deliberations. After discussing each of these situations, members of the Attendance Lines Committee feel that the benefits of the original proposal are still valid for the community as a whole and therefore recommend that the proposal be followed."
Board member Annette Perkins, who represents Catawba, said she had ridden the school bus there. She asked the administration, which will now decide on specific routes, to be extra careful not to lengthen the ride or put children in danger.
Board member Barry Worth said he was not mollified that a bus already travels Nellies Cave Road, that perhaps they should examine that as well.
Chairman Roy Vickers said, "We've discussed it to death," and asked for a vote. The board passed the plan with Worth abstaining, the rest in favor.
by CNB