ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030037
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
The Montgomery County School Board put off the decision Tuesday night on where to build a new middle school in Blacksburg, frustrating a standing-room- only crowd.
The absence of board members Bernie Jortner and Mary Beth Dunkenberger, who were out of town, was enough to persuade a majority of the board to table the vote until April 18.
"This is too important a decision to make without the other board members," said member David Moore.
As part of a building plan to alleviate overcrowding in the county schools, the board wants to build the new middle school in Blacksburg as well as three other schools in the next five years.
After weeks of controversy, the Board of Supervisors last week agreed to buy 40 acres for a new elementary school in Riner. The middle school in Blacksburg and two other schools - a high school in Shawsville and a middle school in Christiansburg - could be funded through a bond issue. Voters may decide on that this fall.
The School Board faces three options: Build a new middle school on a new site, renovate and expand the existing Blacksburg Middle School, or build a new school on the present lot and demolish the old middle school.
A committee of parents, teachers and administrators from the Blacksburg area originally recommended building a new school on a new site. But others opposed taking the school away, saying the 40-year-old school is vital to a prosperous downtown.
So, the committee compromised and came up with the third alternative, to build a new school behind the middle school, then demolish the old one.
Nearly 100 parents, teachers and students came to the meeting Tuesday. About three-fourths stood in support of the committee's most recent recommendation.
As a parent of a seventh-grader and a fifth-grader, Chris Wakely said, "I strongly feel that any renovation would disrupt the learning in the school."
But Robin Maxwell, a parent in Shawsville, told the board to remember the other schools.
"I ask you to consider the less-expensive option," she said. "There are other schools in Montgomery County that need renovations just as badly."
School administrators estimated that a new school on the present lot would cost $16.7 million; that cost does not include moving Bill Brown Stadium. A new school on a new site could run $17.5 million; renovation and expansion of the current school could cost $15.1 million.
Also, the board voted 5-2 to request that the state participate in Goals 2000. The federal program provides money to states and localities for school reform, teacher training, curriculum development and educational materials.
Gov. George Allen rejected the funds, saying the program would result in an unnecessary federal intrusion into state schools.
The General Assembly said the state can participate in Goals 2000 if two-thirds of the state's school boards request it.
Roanoke County voted unanimously to request the funding last week. The Radford School Board will consider the option during its meeting Thursday.
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