Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 7, 1995 TAG: 9504070093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Even with lots of money, not everyone - particularly the Board of Supervisors - is likely to be happy with the outcome.
When Gordon became superintendent, she knew that one of the toughest problems facing her would be the space crunch in some South County schools.
The problem is especially acute at Cave Spring High School and Cave Spring Junior High, where enrollments exceed capacity.
A year after becoming superintendent, Gordon and the School Board are trying to address the space problem and meet long-range needs. It has proved to be just as tough, if not tougher, than she expected.
``If there had been an easy solution, we would have brought it to you,'' Gordon told the supervisors recently.
But several supervisors are still grumbling.
Supervisor Lee Eddy wants the School Board to study all alternatives, including the possibility of two smaller high schools in South County, before it builds a new 2,000 student, $20 million Cave Spring High School.
Supervisor Bob Johnson doesn't like the School Board's plan to spend $3.5 million for air conditioning and stadium improvements at Cave Spring Junior High, which may be closed when a new high school is built.
Despite their misgivings, the supervisors have approved a bond issue that includes $1.5 million for architectural and engineering services for a new Cave Spring High School.
But there is still uncertainity about the proposed school because the county has no plan to pay for it. There had been talk of a referendum on a bond issue this year to finance it, but that is expected to be put off because some supporters fear voters would reject it this year.
Because of Eddy's concerns, Gordon said the architects and engineers for the proposed high school will study the best long-range use of the existing high and junior high schools.
Gordon said the architects will be asked to develop cost estimates for the alternatives. Eddy said there are six options for use of the existing high school and junior high school buildings in South County.
They will review the feasibility of having two high schools in South County - continuing to use the existing Cave Spring High and converting Hidden Valley Junior High to a high school, she said. This would require the construction of a new junior high or middle school.
Another option would be to build a 1,000-student high school and keep using Hidden Valley as a junior high school.
Gordon said her staff sees several negatives in the proposal for two high schools in South County. Double the costs would be required for administrative staff, extracurricular programs and some physical facilities, she said.
Some people believe that students in smaller high schools have better test scores, but Gordon said there is no correlation between test scores and the size of high schools.
If the county were to convert Hidden Valley Junior High into a high school, she said, there could be opposition from nearby residents. The school was built in an area that has been annexed by the city of Roanoke, and residents have complained in the past about the lighting at the school's ballfields.
Gordon said the architects will study the alternatives before they begin preparing drawings for a new high school.
Gordon said she is sympathetic to the supervisors' complaints, particularly about the air conditioning at Cave Spring Junior and the fact that some existing buildings might not continue to be used.
``No matter what way we go, we will have to build [at least one new building], and we may have some buildings that will be surplus,'' she said.
``That is a factor of growth. It is no one's fault.''
Supervisors' Chairman Fuzzy Minnix said the county should keep its promise to air-condition Cave Spring Junior High, which by the end of the school year will be the only school in the county without air conditioning.
``If we are not going to air-condition it, I suggest that we cut off the air conditioning at every other junior high and high school in the county and see how students at those schools feel,'' Minnix said.
School officials say a new high school will be needed in South County in the next decade because residential growth continues in the area. Forty percent of the county's 13,536 school-age children live in South County. Ten of the county's 26 schools are located there.
School officials project that the maximum enrollment in South County in the next decade in grades nine-12 will be 1,777, and 1,370 in grades six-eight. Because of the space crunch, Cave Spring High School now houses only grades 10-12. It has an enrollment of 1,177.
by CNB