Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408120095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Superintendent Wayne Harris said it's not too early to begin planning for the high schools that will be needed for the 21st century.
Like Roanoke County, where the School Board is debating a proposed new Cave Spring High School, city school officials are beginning to look ahead to building needs in the next eight to 10 years.
Although the enrollment has stabilized at 12,750, the city may need to replace the high schools if they become too expensive to maintain, said Nelson Harris, chairman of the School Board.
The board has asked its Long-Range Planning Committee for Schools to evaluate trends in secondary education and recommend facilities that will be needed. The committee is composed mainly of community leaders, parents and others with an interest in schools.
"We need to know what type of high schools we will need and how we would handle the transition if we renovate [the high schools]," Harris said
"It would be harder to close a high school for a year and move the students to another school, as we have done with our elementary schools and we will do with our middle schools."
In the coming year, the city will finish renovating Wasena Elementary, the last of seven elementary schools refurbished at a cost of $17.4 million. The others were Crystal Spring, Forest Park, Highland Park, Morningside, Oakland and Virginia Heights.
Next year the city will embark on a $22.5 million plan to renovate four middle schools in four years. Jackson Middle School will be the first, at a cost of $5.2 million. Funds for the Jackson project are included in a $23 million bond referendum in November.
The other middle schools slated for renovation are Addison, Breckinridge and Woodrow Wilson.
By 1999, Harris said, the city could be ready to renovate or replace the high schools.
Patrick Henry's enrollment was 1,681 last year, and William Fleming's was 1,548. Patrick Henry operated at 93 percent of capacity, and William Fleming 89 percent.
Harris said the board will ask the committee to study the issue without trying to influence its recommendation.
"We will ask them to study it and then step back and let them do that," he said.
The board also wants the committee to study business and technical education and determine whether education standards in the European economic community have any relevance for apprentice programs and work experience for Roanoke students.
Harris said the board wants to know whether the business and technical curriculum should be upgraded so students can better compete in the global economy.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.