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

DATE: FRIDAY, September 23, 1994                   TAG: 9409230125
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NEW SCHOOL AT LEAST 5 YEARS OFF

Planning for a new Cave Spring High School will begin next spring, but the school probably won't be finished until the end of the decade.

Frank Thomas, chairman of the Roanoke County School Board, said Thursday that it will take two or three years to finish the plans and another three years to build the school.

Thomas said the planning will encompass educational programs as well as architectural and engineering work for the school, which is estimated to cost $20 million.

"We would like to make this a showcase school," he said. "We want to make sure that we get what we need in educational programs."

Although the new high school is five or six years away, school administrators said the county won't delay a proposed realignment of grades in Cave Spring Junior High and Hidden Valley Junior High.

Each school has grades six through nine. Because of overcrowding and the desire to reduce the differences in the ages of students, school administrators want to realign the grades.

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

If the grades are realigned, Assistant Superintendent James Gallion said, he expects it would be done next year.

"We would not wait on a new high school. We want closure on [realignment] soon," Gallion said.

School administrators said meetings will be held to get parents' comments on the issue.

Cave Spring is the only high school in the county that does not have ninth-graders. The school is at capacity with 1,200 students.

After a new school is finished, the existing Cave Spring High School would be converted into a middle school for grades six through eight. Ninth-graders would attend the new school.

The School Board voted Thursday to approve a bond sale of $10.1 million through the Virginia Public School Authority that will provide $1.5 million in planning funds for the new Cave Spring High. The board's action confirms an agreement that was reached with the Board of Supervisors last week.

The bond sale includes $3.5 million for a new gymnasium at Northside High School. Northside has the smallest gym in the county

There also is $4 million for maintenance projects at several schools, $1 million renovation of the Cave Spring Junior High School stadium and $100,000 for architectural and engineering fees for renovation of Fort Lewis Elementary School.

by CNB