Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 12, 1995 TAG: 9508140049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
About 25 miles southwest, however, in the farming communities of Moneta, Stewartsville and Chamblissburg, there's one new computer for every 14 students at Staunton River High School.
This kind of inequity has long angered parents in the western part of the county who believe their children haven't had the same opportunities as students in Forest and Boonsboro.
Thursday night, a group of parents of students at Staunton River Middle and High schools took their concerns to the county School Board.
Huddleston veterinarian Don Gardner, the group's leader, told the School Board that when he and his wife started looking at Staunton River High School several years ago, it had many of the same problems it does today.
"Overcrowding, deteriorating physical plant problems, wide use of mobile [trailers] for classrooms, a cafeteria that doubles as a classroom and is too small to serve students in a timely fashion, and a library that was too small to meet state-mandated standards the day it was built were a few of these problems," Gardner told the board.
Staunton River is expected to have about 1,050 students enrolled next year. It's designed to hold 850.
The school is expanding and renovating to alleviate those problems, but parents say delays in construction are just another example of how southwestern Bedford County residents get passed over.
When the school system originally planned for construction and improvements, it said that enlargement of Staunton River would be completed before construction of a new middle school in Forest.
But the middle school in Forest has been open for a year, and Staunton River, which school officials estimated would be completed next month, won't be finished until next spring. Gardner said Bedford County needs to hire a full-time construction supervisor to make sure the project isn't delayed further.
The school system's maintenance supervisor is overseeing the construction in addition to his regular duties.
Friday, school Superintendent John Kent said he didn't think a construction supervisor was needed. The maintenance supervisor and the architect both live near the school and are keeping an eye on the project, he said.
As for delays, Kent said the county building inspector's office held up construction for almost four months while it evaluated the plans for a building permit.
Addressing the parents' larger concerns, Kent said the School Board is working to eliminate inequities. Staunton River will have the same ratio of computers to students as Jefferson Forest as soon as construction is complete, he said.
"It's kind of like the chicken and the egg," he said. "We couldn't put more computers in until we had a building to put them in."
Among parents' other complaints about the school system, Gardner also cited budget cuts this year for textbooks, copy machines and school telephone bills, even though the annual school budget increased by 5 percent.
He also asked the School Board if teacher pay raises of 1 percent to 3 percent were enough.
Kent defended the budget cuts, saying all made common sense and saved taxpayers money. Textbook allotments are lower this budget year, he said, because the state Department of Education hadn't approved standards for new science books and the books won't be purchased this year.
Money budgeted for copy machines is significantly less because the school system got a better deal from a new contractor, Kent said, and the telephone budget is lower because Lynchburg and Roanoke are now local calling areas.
As for teacher pay raises, Kent said, "A 1 percent raise in Bedford County is over $250,000. If you use 1 percent in a speech, it doesn't sound like a lot ... but a 3 percent raise is almost a million dollars."
by CNB