Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410140116
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The board cancelled an Oct. 27 public hearing on the proposal and decided to take no further action - for now.
Parental opposition was a factor in the board's decision Thursday night, but Superintendent Deanna Gordon and board members also cited other reasons.
The decision to speed up construction of the new Cave Spring High School has made the realignment less urgent, said Charlsie Pafford, a board member.
When the county began moving to the middle school concept, school administrators didn't expect a new high school to be built for 10 years. Now it may be constructed within five years.
A new high school will make middle schools possible in Southwest County, as in other areas that have either adopted or plan to switch to them, Pafford said.
Middle schools include grades six through eight, with grades nine through 12 attending high school.
The middle school concept cannot be implemented in Southwest County because Cave Spring High is filled and cannot accommodate a ninth grade.
The proposal to realign Cave Spring and Hidden Valley junior highs would have been the first step toward a middle school grouping. Both schools now have grades six through nine.
Under the plan, one school would have housed sixth and seventh grades, and the other would have been home to eighth and ninth grades. Most parents assumed that eighth and ninth would have been at Cave Spring, but school administrators said no decision had been made.
"If we can get a new high school within five years, I think this will make a difference," Pafford said.
The School Board might have to redraw attendance boundaries for the two junior highs to ease overcrowding until a new high school is built, Pafford said. Cave Spring Junior High is overcrowded, but Hidden Valley could hold more students.
Redrawing attendance lines can become an emotional issue, she said, but it might become necessary.
Chairman Frank Thomas said the board might have to consider changing attendance lines, but he hopes it can avoid busing children past one school to the other.
"We might have to revisit this issue at some point," Thomas said. "The board and the staff will have to look at it.''
Gordon cited another reason for putting the realignment plan on hold. Steve Boyer, Cave Spring Junior High principal, will be busy next year overseeing the installation of an air-conditioning system and other renovations to the building.
Gordon said it would be too much to ask the Cave Spring Junior High staff to plan for a realignment while trying to adjust to the construction project, which architects and engineers say will be complicated.
Parents said the realignment proposal would reduce sports and leadership opportunities for students, force the children to change schools every two years, require longer bus rides for many students and be a short-term solution until a new Cave Spring High School is built.
James Gallion, assistant superintendent, said some of the complaints were unfounded, but many parents feared that the realignment would hamper their children's education.
by CNB