Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 23, 1995 TAG: 9505230094
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Harris said the school system must move forward immediately with the project. Otherwise, he said, it might have to wait until after three other middle schools and the city's two high schools are renovated or replaced - and that could be six or seven years.
Unless the School Board changes its position, Harris said, the demolition and renovation work will begin at Jackson as soon as school is out, despite opposition from some Southeast residents.
The superintendent's remarks signal that the project almost certainly will proceed, because Chairman Nelson Harris said the School Board has no plans to reconsider its decision. The board already has awarded a $5.5 million contract; work is scheduled to begin in mid-June.
"The board is comfortable with the decision we have made. In my conversations with the board members, there is a feeling we have a good plan for Jackson," Nelson Harris said.
City Council refused to intervene in the controversy Monday.
Despite a plea from five people from Southeast and petitions with 500 signatures opposing the demolition, council declined to withhold funds for the project.
Under state law, Mayor David Bowers said, it would be improper for council to try to block the plan.
Council has only the authority to appoint School Board members and provide the money for schools. It can't tell the board how to spend the money or dictate building plans, he said.
``That is the School Board's business. We have a good School Board,'' said Councilman William White, a former School Board member.
Several Southeast residents vowed to get political revenge on the council members and to circulate petitions to get a referendum on electing future boards, whose members are appointed.
Bob Zimmerman, a leader in the protest, said Southeast voters also might withhold support for future bond issues.
``It's sickening. It's a whitewash,'' he said of Monday's developments.
But not everyone in the neighborhood opposes the demolition.
Alan Argabright, president of the Southeast Action Forum, told council that he supports the School Board's plan.
``If it takes tearing down the building to get the educational program we need, I agree with it,'' Argabright said.
There also was support for the plan at a meeting Monday of the neighborhood organization, where Wayne Harris and Richard Kelley, assistant superintendent for operations, outlined the project.
Kelley said the plan would provide a high-technology school that would be competitive with the schools being built by surrounding counties. The city wants to provide quality schools that will stem the migration of families from the city, he said.
The old classroom wing could be saved and renovated, he said, but it would not accommodate high-technology laboratories, computer rooms and the latest in other middle school equipment.
Under the plan, the 72-year-old classroom wing - the oldest part of the school and about half its space - would be razed and rebuilt. The rest - the auditorium, gymnasium and cafeteria, built in the early 1960s - would be renovated.
Several parents said they favor the plan because they want their children to have a school comparable to those in Roanoke County and other nearby localities. One mother said she was thinking of enrolling her children in Roanoke County schools.
Monday's was the first in a series of four meetings over the next 10 days to explain the building plans and educational program.
by CNB