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

DATE: THURSDAY, November 3, 1994                   TAG: 9411030063
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

FORUM USELESS IF TEACHERS DON'T TALK, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER SAYS

"It's two months later and we still don't know how to get to the crux of the problem, and how to solve it," member Dick Edwards said at Tuesday's School Board meeting. "I've talked with a teacher agency and a PTA agency and they say you can't have an open forum because the teachers are scared to talk."

Edwards had proposed the open forum at the September retreat as a way to open lines of communication between school personnel and the school administration. A morale survey released in May showed that teachers felt intimidated and were scared to voice their opinions.

Edwards rescinded his original suggestion Tuesday night.

"The School Board needs to readdress, maybe, the solutions we came up with at the retreat," Edwards said. "It is time for the School Board to seriously look at ways to solve these very serious problems."

Annette Perkins, who represents the northern end of the county, said the School Board has put itself into a "Catch 22."

"Part of the problem with the morale is that there's an element of trust that is gone," she said, "And we have no one to blame but ourselves for not dealing with that [morale] survey."

Board member Barry Worth agreed and said that is why he originally proposed suggestion boxes at the retreat.

"... I can't fix a problem if I don't know what the problem is," Worth said. "That's why I thought the suggestion boxes would help."

Chairman Roy Vickers asked Superintendent Herman Bartlett what the status was on the boxes, which will be placed in each of the county's schools and administrative offices.

"Within a week or two they should be in the schools," Bartlett said. "Each school will have one but we don't know who will collect [the suggestions]. We'd like to try not to tie any identification to them."

Bartlett said the boxes would be locked and only one person would have access to them. Other details have not been determined.

The board also decided to go ahead with a forum. Despite concerns about whether teachers would speak out, the board finally agreed with member David Moore to at least give the forums a chance.

In other matters, the board:

Urged the administration to supply in-service training for teachers to learn how to use the new Montgomery County Home-School Communications homework hot line

Hired an additional bus driver to alleviate overcrowding on buses in the Margaret Beeks attendance area

Gave a 3 percent increase in benefits for nonprofessional school system retirees.