ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 23, 1996 TAG: 9605230066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
More students require more classrooms - and more money.
Roanoke needs to spend nearly $5 million for additions to 12 elementary schools during the next five years to accommodate a growing enrollment and avoid putting the pupils in mobile classrooms, school administrators say.
"We will have no vacant classrooms in any of the elementary schools in the city in the next school year," said Richard Kelley, assistant superintendent for operations.
School officials have been pleased by the increase in enrollment during the past five years because they believe it shows growing confidence in city schools.
They attribute the increase to a rise in the birth rate and the retention of students formerly lost to neighboring localities. But they are scrambling to find a place for all of the students.
The school system is already using nearly 30 mobile classrooms because of the enrollment increase and reductions in class size.
The enrollment is projected to increase by an average of 175 a year during the next five years, mostly in the elementary grades, and to reach 13,900. Kelley said the school system will have to buy at least 20 more mobile classrooms if it doesn't build additions to the elementary schools.
The School Board will ask City Council for bond money to finance the expansion of the schools: The additions would range from three to six classrooms at each school.
School officials had considered buying more mobile classrooms, but some council members have questioned whether they are the best solution.
Councilwoman Linda Wyatt, an elementary teacher, said teachers lose at least one hour of instruction time a day in mobile classrooms because they have to stop teaching and take the entire class to the bathrooms in the main building several times a day.
"We've always said that [mobile classrooms] are just a short-term solution. They don't have bathrooms or water in them," Kelley said. "Board members feel that permanent additions to the buildings are the best long-term solution."
School officials said additions are needed at these schools: Fairview, Fallon Park, Fishburn Park, Forest Park, Grandin Court, Hurt Park, Lincoln Terrace, Monterey, Preston Park, Round Hill, Virginia Heights and Westside.
Besides the elementary school additions, officials will request bond funds for gymnasiums at Fairview and Fishburn Park schools. New library and media centers would be built at Garden City, Grandin Court, Hurt Park and Preston Park.
The total request for all of the elementary projects will be $5.4 million. It will be added to the earlier request for $14.6 million in bonds for educational technology, renovation of two middle schools, and air conditioning at elementary schools.
Under the new plan, the School Board will ask council to approve a bond issue that includes $20 million for schools.
Council members will decide whether and when to hold a bond referendum. Traditionally, they have packaged school improvements with other city projects in bond issues to broaden voter support.
School officials plan to hire a consultant to make a report on elementary school needs for the next 20 years. The study will project enrollment and class-size trends and develop options for large-scale additions or changes to elementary schools.
While the most pressing space needs are in elementary schools, the city is in the midst of a four-year plan to renovate four of its oldest middle schools. The Jackson Middle School project will be finished in August and Breckinridge will be closed for renovation during the next school year.
The School Board's $20 million bond request includes $9.2 million for refurbishing Woodrow Wilson and Addison middle schools in 1998 and 1999. These projects, estimated to cost $14.2 million, also will require a $5 million Literary Fund loan.
School officials plan to develop options for renovating or replacing Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools after the middle school projects are finished. They will hire consultants for a $250,000 study to determine high school needs and enrollment trends. Extensive changes have occurred in curriculum and programs since the high schools were built almost 40 years ago, they said.
Kelley said the consultants' study would begin when funding becomes available, probably in 1998.
The study also will deal with the space and facility needs of the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology, a specialized regional school at Patrick Henry High for highly motivated students.
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