ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
The battle for funds for Roanoke County schools is not over despite the Board of Supervisors' recent vote to provide $5.3 million to complete three projects.
The School Board will ask the supervisors for an additional $2.1 million because the cost for the Fort Lewis Elementary renovation, William Byrd High expansion and Cave Spring Junior improvements will be higher than estimated.
Last month, the supervisors voted to provide $2.5 million to install air conditioning and upgrade the electrical system at Cave Spring Junior.
But school officials told the School Board Thursday night that an additional $500,000 will be needed for Cave Spring Junior because of changes in the building code since the original cost estimate and other revisions in the plans.
The supervisors also provided $2.8 million to complete Northside Middle School's gymnasium and $300,000 for equipment for Glenvar Middle School.
But the Fort Lewis and William Byrd High projects were not included in the earlier request for funds.
"I know we will be criticized when we make another request for funds, but these projects have been planned a long time, and we need the additional money to complete them," said Jerry Canada, chairman of the School Board.
School officials had hoped to begin construction soon on the Fort Lewis and William Byrd projects, but now they must wait until the supervisors agree to provide the additional money.
Homer Duff, director of facilities and operations for county schools, said the cost estimates for the Fort Lewis renovation and the 22-room expansion at William Byrd were made four or five years ago.
The Fort Lewis project was estimated to cost $1.3 million, but the low bid was nearly $2 million. Kitchen equipment, furnishings and other items will push the cost to nearly $2.5 million, Duff said.
Architects said half of the cost increase for Fort Lewis is the result of inflation since the original estimate several years ago and the rest has been caused by a change in the scope of the renovation.
The William Byrd expansion had been projected at $3.3 million, but it will cost nearly $3.8 million, based on the low bid and needed equipment, Duff said.
Duff told the School Board that there is no practical way to reduce the costs for the Fort Lewis and William Byrd projects. Even with the higher prices, he said, some items are being omitted that school officials would like to include.
Both projects were planned long before the recent defeat of a $37.4 million school bond issue for a new Cave Spring High School and several other projects. The Fort Lewis and William Byrd projects were not included in the bond issue because the county had obtained state Literary Fund loans to help pay for them.
Board member Tom Leggette said the original cost estimates for Fort Lewis and William Byrd were "picked out of the air several years ago" before any current members were elected.
When they voted 3-2 last month to provide the additional money for three projects, several supervisors criticized school officials for cost overruns. But board members blamed the increases on inflation and other factors.
Also Thursday night, the board was asked to hire an additional student assistance coordinator for junior and high school students in Southwest County with alcohol and drug abuse problems.
Mary Nasca, president of the Cave Spring Junior Parent-Teacher Association, said Southwest County is being treated inequitably in the drug abuse program because it has only one coordinator for 2,945 students while coordinators in other areas serve fewer students.
She said the drug abuse coordinator in North County (Northside) serves 1,875 students; East County (William Byrd), 1,144; and West County (Glenvar), 926.
The student coordinators try to prevent students from abusing drugs and work with those who are addicted or recovering from drug addiction.
Nasca and Southwest County residents have complained to the board recently about inequity in school buildings and educational programs at Cave Spring Junior and Cave Spring High.
"Here I am again, presenting another situation [student assistance program] in which south county is suffering from inequity," she told the board. "But, of course, is it not south county who is suffering, it is our children: those kids who have nowhere to turn, having not a clue of where to go to make something in their lives better."
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