ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604150015
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Guest Column
SOURCE: ARNOLD J. SAARI
Once again, it's time to review Montgomery County's ambitious school building program.
Perhaps the two most overlooked consequences of the recently adopted building plan for a new Riner elementary school are: (1) Auburn will be the only attendance area in Montgomery County that will not receive a new high school, and (2) Bethel citizens have lost a community school that has existed since 1954.
The Montgomery County Taxpayers Association favors valid school building projects. It also favors the most prudent use of public funds. Montgomery County taxpayers will shoulder the financial burden for new school projects for decades.
The association believes county school officials, the Board of Supervisors and residents should give priority to the following:
Future job opportunities warrant construction of a centralized county career technology (vocational) center. High school students - and perhaps some middle-schoolers - could be bused from the four county high schools (and from neighboring school systems) to participate in a modern and futuristic curriculum that cannot be offered at any single high school.
Build two ninth- through 12th-grade high schools - one in Shawsville and the other in Auburn. The present middle/high school facilities would serve sixth- through eighth-grade students. This would allow middle and high school students to attend classes in separate buildings. The Auburn and Shawsville communities have waited long enough for new high schools. Blacksburg and Christiansburg were provided new high schools 20 years ago. The recent action by the Board of Supervisors, however, has "nixed" forever any new high school for Auburn.
Renovate and/or build needed classroom space at all other schools - especially Blacksburg and Christiansburg middle schools. Sufficient acreage is available for adequate expansion at both sites to accommodate grades 6-8. Bill Brown Stadium can be relocated if additional land is needed to expand Blacksburg Middle School. It should remembered that taxpayers still are paying for extensive renovations that were completed several years ago at both middle schools. Discarding either of these schools as though they were used paper plates is wasteful and senseless.
Elementary schools should be enlarged at their present locations if adjacent land is sufficient or can be acquired. No elementary school in Montgomery County is so large that it can't accommodate additional pupils within the same administrative unit. The commitment to build a new Riner elementary school will prove to be a costly financial and public relations error and should have been reconsidered in favor of expanding the present Riner school to accommodate potential growth. The Bethel community should have been allowed to retain its school either by expansion/renovation or a new building.
Arnold J. Saari is a member of the executive board of the Montgomery County Taxpayers Association. He is a Blacksburg businessman and former superintendent of schools in Montgomery County.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB