ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 19, 1996 TAG: 9604190035
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Suzanne Sanford believes the extra cost of having two high schools in Southwest Roanoke County instead of one would be worth the educational benefits.
And a new study on the ideal high school size appears to buttress the argument of Sanford, a mother of three children in the county schools. Researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Rochester say the optimum size is 600 to 900 students.
But school officials are not necessarily convinced that two schools are the best solution to the space problem in Southwest County.
"I can understand the appeal of a smaller school. In a depersonalized world, parents don't want to feel their children are numbers," Superintendent Deanna Gordon said.
"But in my experience, the size of the school may not be that significant when you consider all factors. I've seen large schools that have been outstanding and small schools that have been failures," she said. "I don't think size alone is a determinant."
Still, Sanford and some other parents are pointing to the study to back up their case for two smaller schools instead of the plan for one large school that was defeated in the school bond referendum earlier this month.
Consultants have estimated that the construction of a small new high school and renovation of Cave Spring Junior High School would cost an estimated $30.2 million - almost as much as the $33.6 million price for a new 1,900-student Cave Spring High.
They say a new 1,000-student high school would cost $22.4 million and the Cave Spring Junior renovations are projected at $7.8 million.
If a large new school had been built, Cave Spring Junior would have been closed and the students would have been moved to the existing Cave Spring High. If a large new high school is not built, Cave Spring Junior will continue to be used.
Enrollment in grades 9-12 in Southwest County is estimated to increase to 1,914 in the next decade. Cave Spring High has about 1,250 students, but there is no room for ninth-graders who attend Cave Spring and Hidden Valley junior highs.
Consultants have estimated the cost of operating two high schools to be $1.7 million a year higher than for one school, but Sanford said the extra expense shouldn't be the decisive factor.
"I think it would be worth it in the long run," Sanford said. She voted against the bond issue because she opposed a large school and said many others agree with her.
School size became an issue during the referendum campaign. A majority of residents who attended a planning meeting on Southwest County schools last year indicated they favored a large school.
But Elizabeth Belcher, a Southwest County mother who opposed a large school, said many residents preferred a smaller school.
The new study on the size of high schools, presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association last week, said students recorded the highest scores on reading and math achievement tests in schools with an enrollment of 600 to 900,
Researchers said test scores declined as schools became larger or smaller than the ideal size.
"Students learn less in small schools," said researcher Valerie Lee of the University of Michigan School of Education. "And in large high schools, especially those enrolling over 2,100 students, they learn considerably less."
While the construction of either a large or small new school appears unlikely in the near future in Southwest County because of the defeat of the bond referendum, school size could be an issue if the county considers the expansion of Cave Spring High.
Expanding the school would be one option for moving ninth-graders to the high school, school officials say, although it is not the preferred choice.
"If you can't do the best solution, you have to look at other possibilities," said Gordon, who believes the school system should offer the same grade alignment and instructional program in Southwest County that other school systems offer.
She wants to get ninth-graders into a high school and implement the middle school concept for students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades in Southwest County.
But Gordon said she's not ready to say what her recommendation would be if school officials had to choose between expanding Cave Spring High and building a small new high school.
Gordon thinks the higher operating costs for two high schools could be an issue because of the school system's tight finances.
"In the current year, when we are having a hard time finding the money to provide pay raises for teachers and other school employees, I wonder where would we get the extra money for two schools," she said. "The additional cost would have to be a concern."
Roanoke County's other high schools are smaller than Cave Spring. Northside has 1,045 students; William Byrd has 1,021. Glenvar has 603 students, but that includes seventh- and eighth-graders who will be moved to a new middle school next year. Glenvar has 397 students in grades 9-12.
Gordon said the course offerings at large high schools are generally much broader because there are enough students with different interests to justify classes. In smaller schools, there sometimes aren't enough students for classes in some courses, she said.
She said there is a push by some educators toward smaller high schools, but she's not certain it will be a lasting trend. "In some ways, it is a fad of this era."
LENGTH: Long : 101 linesby CNB