ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 1, 1996 TAG: 9605010078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Angry parents in Southwest Roanoke County won't abandon their fight for a new Cave Spring High School despite the defeat of the recent $37.4 million school bond referendum.
They said Tuesday night they will not be satisfied with the expansion of Cave Spring High or renovations to Cave Spring Junior High to ease overcrowding at the schools.
They told two members of the Board of Supervisors and a School Board member that the county must put the ninth-graders in Southwest County in the high school, with the same grade alignment as the rest of the county.
"Nothing short of a new high school will solve the problem," said Steve Finch. "We may as well do it."
Terri Langford, co-chairwoman of Citizens for Education, said she still believes one large new high school is the best solution to the space problems in Southwest County and the deficiencies at 40-year-old Cave Spring Junior.
"A new high school will solve the growth problem, get the ninth-graders into the high school and solve the Cave Spring Junior issue," said Langford, a leader in the group that campaigned for the bond referendum.
"We have to find a way to build a new high school," she said. "We have to keep this on the front burner." Another parent who did not identify herself said the stopgap renovations and additions at the existing schools will cost more than $20 million - and Southwest County will still not have adequate facilities.
About 150 people met with Windsor Hills Supervisor Lee Eddy, Cave Spring Supervisor Fuzzy Minnix and Windsor Hills School Board member Tom Leggette to discuss the need for school improvements in Southwest County.
Several sharply criticized Eddy for not supporting the bond issue that voters rejected last month. It included $33.6 million for a new high school. Under the plan, the existing Cave Spring High would have been converted into a middle school and Cave Spring Junior would have been closed.
Eddy said he supports school improvements in Southwest County, but he favors two small high schools instead of one large school. He had other reservations about the bond issue because he said the School Board had not provided a priority ranking of needed school projects in other areas of the county or decided what would happen to the Cave Spring Junior building.
Faced with tight finances, the county must either develop another package of school projects that can be financed within its bonding capacity or raise taxes if it expects to afford more improvements, Eddy told the parents.
Eddy said he would be willing to consider a tax increase if residents and county officials decide this is needed to finance school projects.
Pending the development of a new package of improvements for another possible referendum, the School Board has voted to ask the supervisors for $2.5 million to install air conditioning at Cave Spring Junior and $2.8 million to complete the Northside Middle School gymnasium.
The board has also requested $300,000 for equipment for the new Glenvar Middle School that will open this fall.
But the Southwest County parents said the county shouldn't provide the money for the Northside and Glenvar projects because those funds were included in the bond issue.
They said none of the bond projects should be funded until the county agrees to build a new Cave Spring High.
One parent suggested that the same bond issue be resubmitted to voters in November with the stipulation that no money will be provided for the Northside and Glenvar projects until the referendum is approved.
The parents said they are also leery of the proposal to spend $2.5 million to install air conditioning and upgrade the electrical system at Cave Spring Junior because they fear the school's other needs might be ignored after these stopgap improvements.
Minnix agreed the supervisors shouldn't approve the money for the Northside, Glenvar and Cave Spring Junior projects before a new plan for school projects throughout the county is developed.
If the $2.5 million plan for Cave Spring Junior is approved, Minnix said he has a "horrible dream" that no other improvements will be made to the school in the next 20 years.
"I think we should stop and decide where county schools are going in the next 20 years before we start spending $1 million here and $1 million there in a Band-Aid approach," Minnix said.
Minnix, who favors a new high school, said the county needs to develop a school improvement plan for all areas and he is confident that Cave Spring's needs will rank high.
Minnix said he would be willing to have another school bond referendum in November, but Leggette said the School Board's study of school needs in other areas won't be finished until early next year.
Leggette said he supports the $2.5 million project for air conditioning and electrical system upgrade at Cave Spring Junior now because it will take five years or longer to completely renovate the school. But Eddy said he would be reluctant to vote for the project because he's not convinced that most of the improvements won't have to be torn out if the school had a major renovation later.
Eddy said he would support spending money for the Northside gym and Glenvar equipment because these projects have already started and will be completed at some point. The costs will increase if they are not finished now, he said.
But the parents told Eddy that it will also cost more to build a new high school if it is delayed. And Minnix said there will be no funds for a new high school "if we spend all of our available funds here and there without a plan for meeting all of our needs.
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