Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 1, 1994                   TAG: 9409010088
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOL REALIGNMENT COULD SPARK BOARD-ELECTION FIGHT

But that could change by next year - and cause controversy.

The possible realignment of grades at Cave Spring Junior High and Hidden Valley Junior High has emerged as an issue in the campaign for the Windsor Hills district seat on the Roanoke County School Board.

Some parents are worried that the change could reduce the educational, extracurricular, leadership and sports opportunities for their children.

Under one proposal, Hidden Valley would become the school for sixth and seventh grades, and Cave Spring would serve eighth and ninth grades.

The idea has been discussed intermittently in recent years, but the School Board and school administrators have backed away, partly because some parents didn't like it.

With the campaign just beginning for the first elected School Board in the county, the Cave Spring-Hidden Valley realignment will be a front-burner issue for the Windsor Hills district.

"Many parents are concerned over a possible realignment of the [schools]," said Tom Leggette, a candidate in Windsor Hills. Leggette said the parents want more input on the issue.

Marty Robison, executive assistant for county schools, said no decision has been made on the issue, and all alternatives are being studied.

"We are going to study it this fall," Robison said. "Parents will have input on it, and their concerns will be considered."

One option would be to house the sixth and seventh grades at Cave Spring and the eighth and ninth grades at Hidden Valley.

Robison said the School Board will be involved in discussions about the realignment of the schools.

Betty Nevin, who has a seventh-grader at Hidden Valley, said students will have fewer opportunities for extracurricular activities if Hidden Valley has only the sixth and seventh grades. She said the proposal would require more buses.

If the schools were realigned, Nevin said children who live in Southwest Roanoke County would have to attend four schools within six years.

"This would not give them time to get to know all of the teachers and those they will have in the next year," Nevin said.

Barbara Creasy, who has two children at Hidden Valley and one at Cave Spring High, said she doesn't see any need for the change.

"I see too many negatives and not enough positives," Creasy said.

Overcrowding at Cave Spring Junior High is one reason for the possible change. Cave Spring's enrollment is 904. Hidden Valley has 779 children.

Richard Cullinan, a former School Board member who is running for the Windsor Hills seat, said he would not take a stand on the issue until he reviewed demographic information.

Wayne Newman, another candidate in Windsor Hills, said some realignment is needed because sixth-graders should not be in schools with ninth-graders, because of the age difference.

Newman said ninth-graders should be in high schools, but there is no space for them at Cave Spring High. With the switch to middle schools, ninth-graders in other parts of the county attend high schools.

School administrators said the alignment issue can't be completely resolved until a new high school is built, which ninth-graders could attend.

Many parents urged the Board of Supervisors to schedule a bond referendum in November for a new high school, but the supervisors rejected it on a 3-2 vote.