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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 7, 1994                   TAG: 9409070116
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CAVE SPRING PARENTS ORGANIZE FOR MEETING ON SCHOOL BOND VOTE

The school needs in Southwest Roanoke County will be discussed at a public meeting Thursday night that has been scheduled by parents who are dissatisfied with the Board of Supervisors' recent decision not to hold a school bond referendum this fall.

Fliers have been circulated in the Cave Spring area urging parents and residents to attend the meeting at Cave Spring High School at 7 p.m.

The meeting's organizers recently urged the supervisors to hold a referendum on a $30 million bond issue that would have included $20 million for a new Cave Spring High School, but the supervisors rejected a November referendum on a 3-2 vote. Both supervisors representing the Southwest area, Lee Eddy and Fuzzy Minnix, opposed the referendum.

Minnix represents the Cave Spring District, and Eddy represents Windsor Hills.

Minnix said he didn't think there would be enough time before November to educate voters on the need for a bond issue, but he would be willing to schedule a school referendum next year.

Eddy has cited several reasons for opposing a referendum, saying he believes that the most-needed projects can be financed with Virginia Public School Authority funds and other money without the need for a bond referendum.

He said he doubts voters would approve a $30 million bond issue. If the county spends $20 million on a new high school, he said, it might be more difficult to fund other school needs in the future

Eddy said he continues to support quality education, but he doesn't see the need for a bond referendum now.

"My basic reason is that I do not see existing conditions at Cave Spring High School so deficient as to justify a major tax increase at this time," Eddy said

Eddy and Terri Langford, a PTA leader who has helped arrange Thursday's meeting, have traded viewpoints in newspaper columns on the need for a school bond issue.

In the latest exchange, Eddy wrote to Langford, reaffirming his support and the Board of Supervisors' backing for quality schools. He responded to Langford point-by-point, saying that enrollments are expected to remain flat and he is committed to a new Cave Spring High School in another seven or eight years.

by CNB