ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
THOUGH THEY ARE generally pleased with their school, students at Patrick Henry High want more done about troublemakers.
A group of Patrick Henry High School students called Tuesday for tougher disciplinary action to get rid of what they describe as troublemakers who threaten others' safety and cause problems in classes.
A student told Roanoke School Superintendent Wayne Harris that about 20 students at the Roanoke school seem more interested in creating disorder than their studies. She said the students don't seem to be afraid of school administrators and security officers.
"Sometimes I'm concerned about my safety, but they don't do anything about this group that causes most of the problems," she said.
Another student complained that some students are caught smoking or using drugs, but are not suspended or expelled.
"If there was tougher punishment, I think it would help get rid of some of these problems," he said.
Harris met with about 60 Patrick Henry students to get their views on the school, teachers, safety and any other issues they wanted to discuss. He held a similar "town meeting" last week with William Fleming High students. The students did not use their names and administrators and teachers were kept away so the students would speak more freely.
Harris asked the students how the school could improve the situation if they felt safety was an issue.
Several students replied that the school should expel students who are not interested in academics and who sleep in class or threaten the safety of others.
"Some students and teachers don't seem to care," one student said. "If you expelled students, I know they would be on the streets, but they wouldn't be causing problems in schools."
Like their counterparts at William Fleming, the Patrick Henry students generally like the school despite their complaints about it.
They said Patrick Henry has fewer computers and less educational technology than William Fleming, a federally funded magnet school.
"Fleming has a computer for almost every student in some classes, but we don't have but one or two computers in some classrooms," one student said.
Harris acknowledged that Fleming has more advanced technology because Roanoke has received $8million in magnet funds for Fleming and William Ruffner Middle School.
But the school system is trying to equip Patrick Henry with the same level of technology, he said. "We can't do it as fast as we would like, but we want to have one computer for every five students at Patrick Henry."
Roanoke spent several hundred thousand dollars on technology at Patrick Henry last year and will spend a similar amount in the next year, Harris said.
The students also said Patrick Henry is shortchanged in funding for its band, choir and drama club. They said the school has to buy costumes for its drama productions at Goodwill stores.
Harris said he has offered to provide $6,000 in matching funds for new band uniforms if the band boosters can raise money to buy them. The city has not funded band uniforms at other schools, he said.
Several students complained about the poor appearance of the school grounds and the lack of athletic fields for sports teams.
Harris said $350,000 was spent on grounds and building improvements last summer, and another $250,000 will be spent this summer.
Several black students said they believe there should be more blacks in honors classes at the school. One student said she feels intimidated in her advanced classes because there are so few black students. "You don't feel like you can express yourself," she said.
There were complaints that the 30-minute lunch period is too short and that classes are too long in the school's block schedule. Some classes last more than 90 minutes.
"There's a lot of dead time in some language and math classes," a student said. "It's hard for a teacher to keep a subject interesting that long."
Several students were upset about the rumored elimination of spring break next year. Harris said that is not quite accurate. If there is little or no bad weather to cause schools to close next winter, the schools will have a six-day spring break. If there is a lot of bad weather, however, he said the spring break will be reduced to two days.
There were complaints about the lack of air conditioning in the school and the hot classrooms this week. Harris agreed the conditions are unpleasant, but he said he doesn't favor closing school early unless the heat poses a danger to health.
Harris will compile a list of the students' comments and meet with Principal Elizabeth Lee to review them. The two of them will determine what needs to be done, he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 92 linesby CNB