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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 16, 1994                   TAG: 9411160157
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GIANT SCHOOLS NO LONGER IN WITH EDUCATORS

Some educators say a high school should have no more than 1,200 students; others say a school with 2,000 students can run well if it's reorganized into smaller units of several hundred.

The state Department of Education has compiled research on the issue, but it does not dictate school size to local divisions.

Several high schools in Northern Virginia and Tidewater have more than 2,000 students. "But the general trend is away from mega high schools," said Roanoke County school Superintendent Deanna Gordon. Professional educators no longer advocate them, she said. "Frankly, a 4000-student high school would be intimidating."

Roanoke Superintendent Wayne Harris said large schools fly in the face of current educational philosophy and practices in large urban areas.

If Patrick Henry High in Roanoke and Cave Spring High in Roanoke County were replaced by a new high school, it would need to accommodate about 4,000 students. But Mayor David Bowers, who has proposed a joint city-county high school, said Tuesday he does not advocate closing Patrick Henry and Cave Spring.

Harris, a former administrator in the state's largest school system, Fairfax County, said the trend has changed. Some [educators] believe the schools were getting too big," he said.

Research has shown that large high schools are not less costly to operate nor are they free of duplication.

"A study of any 4,000-student high school quickly reveals not only duplication, but the multiplication of similar spaces and resources, including the library," according to one researcher quoted in a state Department of Education report.

"Large high schools can be justified only in cities where the population density is very high. In other situations, the single large high school simply channels tax dollars into transportation costs."

Students`chances of getting into specialized classes or extracurricular activities may go down as the school size goes up.

Roanoke's Patrick Henry High has an enrollment of 1,650.

Roanoke County's proposed new Cave Spring High School is projected to have about 2,000 students That would include space to handle the current enrollment of 1,182, plus 400 ninth-graders in junior high schools and projected growth in the Cave Spring area.

Both Gordon and Harris said it's too early to say whether Bowers` proposal is practical.

Before city and county school administrators spend much time on the idea, Gordon said, they need to know whether parents and residents like it. If there is little or no support for the proposal, she said, the school system's staff could better spend its time on other issues.

Legally, the city and county would need the consent of the state Board of Education. Attorneys for both localities said Tuesday there are no legal impediments, but many administrative details would have to be resolved

There are precedents for joint city and county programs. Students from both localities - and five other school divisions - participate in the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology. The city and county also participate in regional programs for special education and alternative education.

Paul Mahoney, Roanoke County's attorney, said the only possible legal hurdle is whether the localities would need the approval of the Justice Department or federal courts because it might affect the racial balance at Patrick Henry High.

But William Parsons, an assistant city attorney, said Roanoke's school system is no longer under a federal court order for desegregation - a point of contention during the battle over the 1990 city-county consolidation referendum. That would make the issue moot, Mahoney said.