ROANOKE TIMES

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

DATE: THURSDAY, August 3, 1995                   TAG: 9508030025
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium


EARLIER CLASSES APPROVED IN MONTGOMERY

Rise and shine, Montgomery County middle and high school students: that first school bell will ring even earlier this year.

The Montgomery County School Board voted 8-1 Tuesday to move up class time and adjust bus schedules so that all secondary students would be in school by 7:50 a.m. - more than an hour before elementary schools start.

This means dragging out of bed 15 minutes earlier for Auburn, Blacksburg and Shawsville students. Christiansburg already begins at 7:50, but 15 minutes will be added to the end of that school day.

Elementary schools, except Riner, will start the day up to a half an hour later than last year, with school beginning at 9:10 a.m.

In May, school administrators proposed the changes for several reasons. Added time would benefit Christiansburg and Shawsville high schools' block scheduling, they said. Also, class times would match, making it easier to connect the schools for distance learning classes.

Buses would run one high school then one elementary school route in the morning and afternoon, eliminating the need of additional buses. The change would keep elementary school pupils from waiting in "bus rooms" for the afternoon ride home. It also would keep the schools from having to purchase more buses.

Board member Annette Perkins voted against the change, saying cost cutting measures shouldn't overshadow the learning needs of children.

Lou Herman agreed, citing an incident in Roanoke this spring where a second-grader fell asleep on his school bus and wasn't discovered until the bus was parked in the bus lot.

"That just attests to the fact that it's a long day and I'm concerned this is not the right educational time for young children," she said.

Maintenance and Facilities Supervisor Larry Schoff said Wednesday the bus route changes was a secondary benefit to learning advantages.

In June, Assistant Superintendent Jim Sellers asked principals to survey parents, teachers and other employees about the time changes. In most schools, just a handful of parents and teachers said they were against the changes. But in Riner, so many people protested that the School Board decided to exempt the elementary school there from the change.

Of the 233 families surveyed by the Riner PTA, 91 percent said they were against the change. One hundred percent of the teachers, bus drivers, custodians and clerical staff surveyed opposed the idea.

Tom Kegley, Riner's former PTA president who organized the survey, said most parents worried about finding someone to watch their younger children in the morning.

Riner is unique because it is the only school where primary and secondary students ride the same bus at the same time. That's a relief for working parents, said Kegley, because the older kids watch the younger ones.

Pushing back the time when Riner elementary begins classes would not only separate young pupils from older students, it leaves them waiting at home without any kind of supervision.

Administrators agreed to line up the Riner schedule with Auburn High School's schedule - for this year only. School board member Barry Worth, who represents the Riner area, said he plans to discuss schedule changes with residents.

But Kegley said parents probably won't change their minds about what schedule works for their area. The only logical change, he said, would be when pupils move to the new Riner Elementary school.

The earliest that construction project will begin is 1996.



 by CNB