ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 26, 1996 TAG: 9604260077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
The Roanoke County School Board will ask the Board of Supervisors for funds to install air conditioning at Cave Spring Junior High School and to complete the Northside Middle School gymnasium in the aftermath of the defeat of the school bond referendum.
The School Board also voted Thursday night to ask the supervisors for money to buy science lab equipment and other instructional materials for the new Glenvar Middle School. But a sharply divided board decided that the Glenvar school will be furnished with used desks and other furniture.
The School Board will request that the supervisors accept a $2.5 million state Literary Loan to put in air conditioning and upgrade the electrical system at Cave Spring Junior so more computers and modern technology can be used in the school.
The supervisors refused to approve the Cave Spring project last fall, saying then they didn't want to spend money on a building that might be closed if a new high school were built.
With the defeat of the bond issue and the uncertainty about a new high school, the School Board voted to revive the plan for air conditioning and electrical improvements at the junior high school.
About 100 residents from Southwest County told the board they are afraid that the county will spend only $2.5 million on Cave Spring Junior and forget the need for other renovations at the school and the need for a new high school.
But Chairman Jerry Canada assured the residents that the board will keep the need for more improvements in mind as it develops a new package of school projects for the supervisors.
Angry over the defeat of the bond issue and the plan for a new Cave Spring High, the Southwest County residents wanted the School Board to halt spending on all school improvement projects until a study of school needs in all areas of the county is completed.
A petition bearing the signatures of 742 persons asking for a halt in spending on all projects was also presented to the board. The residents said it would be unfair to fund any project that was included in the defeated bond issue without funding them all.
They urged the board not to ask the supervisors for $2.8 million to complete the Northside gym project and $600,000 for equipment for Glenvar Middle School.
Voters in the Northside and Glenvar areas voted overwhelmingly against the $37.4 million bond issue. Because voters in these areas rejected the bonds, the Southwest County residents said projects in those areas should not proceed.
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