ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: THE CITIZEN'S AGENDA
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
ROANOKE COUNTY PARENTS AGREE that schools need more technology, but they worry how the $1 million in the upcoming bond referendum would be distributed.
Jan Danahy is worried.
A mother of four, Danahy says Roanoke County schools have a lot of catching up to do in educational technology.
Danahy - who has a daughter attending Hidden Valley Junior High School and three other children in county schools - says she's concerned that the county doesn't have the technology to get her daughter and other children ready for college.
"She is looking at going to a very large school; and in order to do that, she must have computer skills," she says. "This is something that's addressed in this [bond] issue."
School officials agree that the county needs to upgrade its technology, even though it has spent $1.6 million on computers, computer networking and other instructional equipment in the past year.
"If we lag behind in any area, it's in technology - not just computers, printers and laser disc players, but video equipment and software for music, fine arts and other subjects," says Marty Robison, executive assistant for county schools.
School officials have identified $12 million in technology needs, including nearly $4 million for classroom computers, to reach the state's goal of one computer for every five students. The county's wish list also includes $3 million for multimedia computers and classroom monitors.
The April 2 bond referendum contains $1 million for technology at all schools. Officials hope the money will generate support for the referendum throughout the county.
But some parents, noting that referendum brochures don't provide details on the allocation plan, have questioned how the funds will be distributed.
Mary Staples, president of the Glenvar Elementary PTA, has asked if each school will get a percentage of the money or whether technology will be evaluated and upgraded at schools with the greatest need.
Robison says the technology and video money will be distributed among all schools on a per-pupil basis.
The county's enrollment is about 13,650. The technology allocation for each child would be about $732.
The amount for each school would vary considerably - from about $5,000 for Bent Mountain Elementary, the smallest school, to $88,500 for Cave Spring High, the largest.
Northside High would receive about $76,000; William Byrd, $75,000; and Glenvar, $44,000.
The allocations for many elementary schools would be in the range of $35,000 to $40,000, with most middle schools and junior highs receiving $60,000 to $65,000.
Staples says she fears that the county's distribution plan will perpetuate inequities in technology at schools.
"Some schools have not had the resources to bring their technology to the same level as other schools," Staples says. "If you continue to do it on a per-pupil basis, some schools are going to be left behind."
Although technology money would be distributed on the basis of the current enrollment, computer and video equipment could be moved between schools to reflect changing enrollments if ninth-graders in Southwest Roanoke County are moved to a new high school, Robison says.
"We would be buying technology we can use now and could be moved," Robison says. The county would not wait until it built a new high school and completed other school improvements, which could take several years, before obtaining the technology.
If a new high school is built, temporary wiring could be done at Cave Spring Junior and other arrangements could be made to use the technology until students were moved to Cave Spring High, which would be converted into a middle school.
Robison says there would be no duplication between the per-pupil technology money allocated for Cave Spring High and $1.2 million earmarked for technology in the construction budget for the new high school.
The technology construction money would be used for wiring, networking and other support systems for technology, not necessarily for computers, he says.
The county expects to receive an additional $700,000 from the state for technology in the spring of 1997.
Many voters say schools need more computers and other technology, but some say school officials are using the $1 million to try to get more support for the new Cave Spring High.
Shannon Abell, a Northside High School graduate, says technology should have a higher priority than athletic facilities.
"While I'm all for education, I say spend more money on computers, and maybe we don't need to spend as much on the locker room or weight equipment," Abell says.
Kathy Batchler, a former teacher who has two children at Cave Spring Junior, says the schools need to upgrade their technology, even though some voters are upset about rising tax bills.
"I think everyone understands that those who are angered [about the bond issue], it isn't about education, and that's where I feel we have got our backs against the wall," Batchler says. "There has got to be another way besides voting down this referendum to correct that feeling."
But Robert Lovelace, a retiree whose four children graduated from Northside High, says he believes school officials are using the technology money and other small projects as a token bribe to get voters to support a new high school.
David Simmons, a Glenvar resident with grandchildren in county schools, says he will vote for the bond issue partly because the technology money will benefit every school.
"We're doing our children a disservice every day we delay technology for them."
Have a question about the Roanoke County bond issue? Let us know so we can follow up. Write Joel Turner, The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010.
LENGTH: Long : 111 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Abell, Batchler, Lovelace. GRAPHIC: color.by CNB