Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 19, 1995 TAG: 9501190090
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The facilities study, completed last spring and presented to the board in December, found that the majority of Montgomery County's schools were inadequate or would be inadequate within the next five years. The board accepted the entire four-phase study and approved the first, most pressing phase, this week at it's midmonth meeting.
The four projects scheduled[ for construction are a new elementary school in Riner, a new high school in Shawsville and new middle schools in Blacksburg and Christiansburg. The combined cost for the four schools would be approximately $34 million.
"We've got 30 plus trailers in our schools. We've got a demographics study that says the population is growing. We're down to having every nook and cranny filled with teachers and students," said Superintendent Herman Bartlett. "If we don't build in the near future we'll have to add more and more relocatable classrooms and we don't want to do that. The administration supports the way [the study has] been recommended by the community."
The facilities study was a community-driven effort that began in December 1993 with a survey of 18 of the county's 19 schools. (Kipps Elementary School, which didn't open until August 1994, was excluded). After the results of the survey were released, community members formed committees that fine-tuned the document and came back to the School Board with recommendations.
"I will approve this, even though I have some reservations," said board member Bob Goncz. "But I don't think my concerns are so big that I couldn't support this study. After all, the community made the decisions and they certainly know better than me what they want."
Board member Peggy Arrington agreed.
"I think that if this is what the community wants, they will make it work," she said. "This is their decision."
The new 600-pupil elementary school in Riner would replace the existing Bethel and Riner elementary schools to become the area's one central elementary school .
Board member Barry Worth asked if some parents would object to their children taking such a long bus ride to the central location. Committee members assured him that was not a major concern.
"The general response has been, 'We really don't care where it's built, just do something now,'" said Bob Miller, a committee member.
In the Shawsville area, committee members agreed on a 400-student high school to replace the existing high school. The existing high school would be used as a middle school.
Blacksburg committee members decided that a large 1,000-pupil middle school would better serve sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, rather than two, smaller 500-pupil schools.
The new Christiansburg Middle School would be moved to a larger, safer location that would allow for expansion as the area grows.
"This is a complicated process and there's a lot of money involved," Bartlett said Tuesday night. "What we've tried to do is choose the best options educationally and economically."
The board agreed to set up a meeting with the county Board of Supervisors to discuss how to fund such projects.
In other matters, the board is finalizing plans to attend the National School Boards Association 55th Annual Conference in San Francisco in April. Board members Bob Goncz, Barry Worth, Peggy Arrington, Lou Herrman, Chairman Roy Vickers and Superintendent Bartlett will attend the conference. The minimum total cost for the trip, not counting meals or additional workshops, will be approximately $6,250.
Arrington, who will be in the area on personal business, is paying her own expenses except for the $485 conference fee.
by CNB