ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Despite the recent defeat of a bond issue for a new Cave Spring High School, Superintendent Deanna Gordon remains optimistic that Roanoke County voters and the Board of Supervisors will approve funds for needed school projects.
Gordon said she believes the supervisors will support a plan for improvements that will be developed during the next several months by consultants and a 21-member residents' committee that will rank the projects in priority.
She told the committee at its initial meeting this week that she thinks county officials and voters are ready to fund school projects now that other major facilities, such as the Spring Hollow Reservoir, have been completed.
Gordon believes there is strong support in the county and state for schools, even though the $37.4 million bond issue was rejected by 57-43 percent. She cited a recent Virginia Tech survey showing that 54 percent of Virginians do not think enough money is being spent on schools.
Gordon estimates that the study that is just beginning could show the county needs to spend $120 million on school improvements during the next five to 10 years.
Some committee members wanted to know whether the supervisors are committed to providing the money for the needed projects.
"If we come up with a good plan, do we have any assurances that the supervisors will fund it?" one member asked.
The committee could do a lot of work, but it might not accomplish anything if there is no money, he suggested.
Consultant Ron Martin said, "We can do our homework and develop a good plan. I think that will carry weight, but there are no assurances"
Martin heads Martin & Associates, an architectural and engineering firm assessing the school's needs and working with the committee.
"If we unite behind a plan, hopefully it will give the supervisors the courage to fund it," said Thomas Leggette, chairman of the School Board.
One committee member said the group should focus on developing a plan that will win voter approval. "The voters, not the supervisors, turned down the bond issue."
The supervisors have the option of submitting school projects to voters in a referendum or they can finance them through the Virginia Public School Authority without a referendum.
Roanoke County is not alone in the defeat of its school bond issue in April. Nationally, localities are finding school bond issues a harder sell in recent years.
A recent survey of 85 school systems across the country found that one-quarter of the requests to sell bonds or raise taxes had failed in the past five years, according to School Board News, a publication of the National School Boards Association. Houston voters, for example, rejected a $390 school bond issue in June.
The Bond Buyer, a newspaper that covers the bond industry, says the amount of school bonds approved fell from $39.8 billion in 1992 to $19.1 billion in 1994.
Out of 32 school bond issues submitted to voters in Washington state this past April, 23 were rejected, the School Board News said.
As a first step in Roanoke County's study, Martin said, the architects and engineers will assess facilities and conditions in all 28 schools in the county.
"We will climb on every roof, open every door, visit every room in every school," Martin said.
John Davis, former state superintendent of public instruction, will be a consultant for educational programs for the study and help determine the improvements that are needed to accommodate programs.
Martin said the study will produce a two-volume report with detailed information on each school, with demographics, projected enrollments and recommended improvements.
The consultants will begin sharing their findings with the committee in September, he said. Visits will be arranged so committee members can view each school.
A series of public meetings will be held this fall to get the views of residents.
The School Board doesn't want to rush the study, but it hopes to have the committee's recommendations ready early next year when work on the new school budget begins, Martin said.
He said the consultants will be working with the county Planning Department on population and enrollment projections for different parts of the county.
The School Board hopes the committee can develop a consensus on the proposals and help build support for them.
The panel includes four members from each magisterial district and one at-large representative. Two from each district were selected by School Board members and the other two from each district were chosen by the Board of Supervisors.
The School Board selected one at-large member, and the supervisors have been invited to name another at-large representative.
School officials decided to undertake the countywide study to counter complaints of favoritism during the recent bond referendum campaign. Ninety percent of the defeated issue would have been spent on a new Cave Spring High School, with smaller amounts for half a dozen other projects.
The bond issue was approved by voters in Southwest County, but it was rejected overwhelmingly in other parts of the county.
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