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

DATE: THURSDAY, October 13, 1994                   TAG: 9410130052
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

REDRAWING SCHOOL LINES ISN'T EASY

Q: I attended the meeting on possibly splitting grades six-seven and eight-nine between Hidden Valley and Cave Spring junior high schools. Someone asked why they don't redraw attendance lines to balance the enrollment, instead of splitting the grades. The Roanoke County school administration seemed opposed to this. Why? Would redrawing the school lines have anything to do, politically, with whom we vote for on the Board of Supervisors?

V.T., Roanoke County

A: Politics is not involved in the attendance zones.

Redrawing a school district is much more complicated than merely shifting a line on a map, said James Gallion, assistant superintendent.

Barrier No.1 is the desire of pupils and their parents to keep students together with their friends from elementary through high school.

Gallion said a change of attendance zones was considered in studies of the crowding at Cave Spring and was rejected because the only real options would have been sending pupils from Cave Spring or Penn Forest elementary schools to Hidden Valley Junior High.

This would accomplish the goal of keeping a group of children together, but they would be leaving their neighborhood to attend Hidden Valley.

"Parents we have heard from in the Cave Spring Elementary area, which would be most affected, do not want their children separated,'' Gallion said.

"People think we can redraw junior high lines, but it's really elementary lines we would have to redraw."

Another factor is the need to install the middle school program in Southwest County, which is the only part of the Roanoke Valley where middle schools are not at work or planned.

Middle schools use team-teaching concepts that will not fit into class schedules used in junior highs.

Late-night sirens

Q: I live on Carter Road in Roanoke, and last night I heard sirens at 3:23 a.m. and again at 4:57 a.m. Is there any ordinance providing certain times that sirens will not be used unless the emergency is extreme?

D.W., Roanoke

A: There's a city ordinance and a state law. They require the use of sirens by emergency vehicles, without regard to the hour or kind of problem.

Also, there's no volume control. Sirens run wide open.

That said, there are some variables. Fire trucks and rescue squads sometimes make more noise approaching intersections than they do at the middle of the block.

Also, police cars may use a silent approach if officers are trying to catch a burglar in the act. This is rare, though.

The law, and the rule book, require sirens so the right of way will be clear and civil liability will be covered.

Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.|

by CNB