Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 1, 1994 TAG: 9408010069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Friends have consoled Harris with those thoughts since he lost a council bid in May and became head of the board in July.
He's almost willing to agree, but it doesn't take away the sting of defeat
Still, Harris is looking ahead to his work, and he has put aside politics for now.
"I'm not focused on running for council now. It was a good civic experience. I'm content being on the School Board," he said.
He ran fourth in a field of five candidates for three council seats.
Harris, in his third year on the board, said he didn't think about the chairman's post until after the City Council election.
Some board members wanted Marilyn Curtis to be chairman because she has been on the board longest - she's now in her seventh year. But Curtis agreed instead to be vice chairman.
The board turned to Harris and he accepted, replacing Charles Day, who was chairman for a year.
Harris said his immediate priorities will be ensuring that the board works together as a team and keeps a good working relationship with council.
At 29, Harris is one of the youngest School Board chairmen in the city's history, but he doesn't see that as a liability because he has two children who will be enrolling in school in the next few years: John, 4, and Andrew, 2.
"Although my children are not in school now, the quality of our schools will have more personal concern for me over the next few years," he said.
Harris said his first priority will be trying to persuade voters to approve the city's $23 million bond issue, which includes $7.1 million for schools. The money would be used to renovate Jackson Middle School and buy computers and other instructional technology.
"Between now and November, I want to make sure that voters are educated about the reasons we need this money," Harris said.
On a long-term basis, he supports Superintendent Wayne Harris' plan to review the curriculum and revamp the alternative education program, to eliminate its stigma as a program for troubled youth.
Administrators will determine whether changes are needed.
"We have the Plato program, magnet schools, City School and many other programs. We will decide if they are doing what we want them to do," Nelson Harris said. Wayne Harris and his staff will make the review over the next three or four years.
Nelson Harris also wants administrators to look into the possibility of encouraging, or requiring, students to become bilingual before they graduate.
"If we are serious about competing in the global economy, we need to consider having our students becoming fluent in a second language," he said. "There would be costs, but we've got to start sometime." Harris studied French in high school and college.
Harris, who was born and raised in Roanoke, believes that a good school system is a key to economic growth and the quality of life.
"The economic and social conditions in a locality hinges on the quality of its schools," he said.
Harris supports the expulsion of students who bring drugs or weapons to schools. He voted to expel 10 students in the past year. He said he has zero tolerance for drugs and weapons on school property. But he likes Wayne Harris' proposal to give students a second chance in unusual cases
Compared with other urban school systems, 10 expulsions is not a large number, Harris said.
"We are not trying to hide anything. Our schools are safe, and we will keep them safe," he said.
"We had 10 students who were expelled, but we had 12,690 students who complied with the conduct code and were not expelled."
Two issues that have caused controversy in many school divisions - school prayer and family-life courses - have generated no protest in Roanoke.
Harris, minister of Ridgewood Baptist Church, said the lack of controversy over sex education indicates that school administrators did a good job of selecting the materials and organizing the course.
Harris said he believes in the separation of church and state. He's not aligned with religious fundamentalists who want to restore prayer in school.
He said the best solution might be a moment of silence instead of a prayer. The board has a brief period of silence at the beginning of its meetings. There is no mention of a prayer or religion.
Harris was the minister of a small church on Bent Mountain before coming to Ridgewood Baptist, which is near the Roanoke-Salem boundary south of the Salem Turnpike.
Harris said his schedule is fairly flexible and provides the time that will be needed for ceremonial duties and other demands as chairman. Funerals are the most unexpected events and can force him to change his schedule. He had planned to attend a recent educational conference but had to cancel because of a funeral.
As chairman of the board and a minister, Harris said he will do what he can to help reduce the city's teen pregnancy rate. But he said the schools can't solve it alone.
"It is a community, health, social and religious problem," he said. The school system has a program for teen mothers so they can continue their education.
Harris said the schools got a financial boost this year from state funds to help reduce the disparity between rich and poor school divisions. The city has hired more teachers and will have smaller classes in which there is a high concentration of disadvantaged children.
But he said inadequate funding will continue to be one of the top challenges facing the school system. He said the schools need to upgrade their instructional technology, which will cost an estimated $7.5 million.
For recreation, Harris likes to read and write. He has a special interest in Civil War history. He has researched and written a book about a cavalry unit in the war. The book is part of series on fighting units in the war.
"It's something that has long been an interest of mine. I enjoyed doing the research and writing it," he said.
by CNB