ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 29, 1996 TAG: 9603290085
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
The proposed new Cave Spring High School has gotten most of the attention in the flap over Roanoke County's upcoming bond issue referendum, but Robbie Helms just wants a larger computer lab for him and his classmates at Mount Pleasant Elementary School.
If Roanoke County voters approve the $37.4 million bond issue Tuesday, Helms will get a lab big enough for his entire fourth-grade class to go there together. Only half of the 23 students in the class can go to the computer lab at a time, because the room is so small.
Helms has become something of a celebrity in recent weeks because he talks about the need for the larger computer lab in a video on the bond issue that has been shown to dozens of groups.
He upstaged other speakers at a news conference Thursday during which the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce and Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce jointly endorsed the bond referendum.
"I hope people will vote for the bonds so we can all go to lab together," he told county and school officials, business leaders, parents and others at the news conference at the school.
The bond issue includes $800,000 for an addition and renovation of Mount Pleasant. Many voters have focused on the $33.6 million for the new Cave Spring High, but Helms said his school will also benefit.
Many business leaders and officials came up to Helms afterward to thank him for his presentation. Cave Spring Supervisor Fuzzy Minnix took a county pin from his lapel and gave it to the boy.
Robert Glenn, chairman of the board of the Roanoke Regional Chamber, said business support for the county bond issue transcends political boundaries. "The business community throughout the Roanoke Valley supports it. From a business standpoint, education is a priority."
Rick Poplstein, president of the Salem-Roanoke County Chamber, said educational technology and the quality of schools are major factors in attracting industries.
Businesses and industries want to know the condition of schools and whether they can accommodate growth when they are considering building a new plant, he said.
Half a dozen organizations and several state legislators have endorsed the bond issue, but there is opposition. The Red Lane Extension and Mountain Heights Civic League in West County has voted to oppose the referendum. Among other objections, the civic league said too much of the money is being spent on the new Cave Spring High and taxpayers have not been adequately informed on the true costs of the bond issue.
Strong opposition also has come in the Glenvar area, where some parents and other residents say their schools have been slighted.
Approximately 35 people attended an anti-bond rally Thursday night at Glenvar High School. Don Terp, a leader of a group opposing the bond issue, said the county can't afford the proposed new high school and urged voters to defeat the referendum.
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