ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 12, 1995 TAG: 9512120041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
SANDRA BURKS was a logical choice for the acting director post, as she has watched magnet schools develop during her six years with the program.
Sandra Burks never stops selling Roanoke's magnet schools.
She spoke to fifth-graders at Highland Park Elementary School on Monday about the aerospace program at Addison Middle School, the performing arts program at Ruffner Middle School, and magnet courses offered at other middle schools. Soon, she'll talk to eighth-graders about the magnet program at William Fleming High School.
For nearly six years, it has been Burks' job to attract students to the city's magnet schools. As a recruiter and marketing specialist, she has helped expand the city's magnet program from four to 12 schools.
Burks has been named acting director of magnet schools. She succeeds Anita Tanner, who resigned last year to become director of magnet programs in Durham, N.C.
Burks, 34, was a logical choice for the post because she has been with the magnet schools for six years and has watched them develop, said Faye Pleasants, executive for human resources for Roanoke schools.
"She is familiar with all the programs and knows the various aspects of the grant regulations and evaluation requirements," Pleasants said.
Burks said she believes magnet schools can help all kinds of students. "There is no profile of a typical student," she said. "You have students of all abilities and needs."
Some are attracted to magnet schools because they want the specialized science, math, technology and fine arts courses, she said. Others have experienced problems in regular schools.
"We find that students who are having difficulties in traditional schools are often successful in magnet schools because it is a match of the students' interests and courses," she said. "If students are interested in a program and want to attend a school, they are likely to do better."
Burks said magnet schools have helped promote voluntary desegregation by attracting white students to schools with an enrollment of more than 50 percent black students.
Federal guidelines require the city to try to achieve a 50-50 racial balance in magnet schools to help desegregate the school system, which is 40 percent black.
Roanoke has reached the 50-50 goal in several magnet schools and has "moved toward it" in other schools, Burks said.
About 1,000 city students leave their home schools to attend the magnet schools. Another 350 students come from nearby localities.
Tuition is free to all students, including those outside Roanoke, but there is a $25 application fee for nonresidents.
Students in attendance zones for magnet schools automatically attend them, unless they want to attend another magnet school.
Openings at the schools vary, depending on the racial balance, grade level and popularity of programs. Some schools are almost full, but others have vacancies.
In the past decade, the city has received $19.2 million in federal grants for computers, technology laboratories, performing arts studios and other equipment for the schools.
Ten magnet schools were funded with federal funds. Two magnet schools - Fishburn Park Elementary and James Madison Middle - have not received federal funds because their minority enrollment was less than 50 percent.
The future of magnet grants is uncertain due to pending cuts in federal funds for education. Funds for magnet schools are expected to be reduced by 15 percent to 20 percent next year, Burks said. That could affect the latest grant for the city's newest magnet schools, Huff Lane and Lincoln Terrace.
Whether Roanoke will seek grants to establish more magnet schools will depend on the availability of federal funds and the eligibility of schools, Burks said. The city might have two additional elementary schools that would be eligible, but no decision has been made on seeking funds for them, Burks said.
Looking ahead, she hopes the city can research the impact of magnet programs and technology on students' academic achievement.
"We want to try to determine what has worked in our program and how we can apply it to other schools," she said.
Burks, who grew up in Bedford County and graduated from Staunton River High School, was admission representative and director of the Danville campus for National Business College before she began working for Roanoke schools.
She has been interested in education all of her life, partly because her mother is a teacher at Staunton River Middle School. When she was in elementary school, she thought she wanted to be a school librarian. She is a graduate of Towson State University in Maryland.
Her interest in education has intensified since she gave birth nearly a year ago to a son, Bryan. "After you have a child, you have a different perspective. It takes on a more personal meaning."
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART/Staff. As a recruiter and marketingby CNBspecialist, Sandra Burks has helped expand the city's magnet program
from four to 12 schools. color. Graphic: Chart: A magnet school
primer. color.