ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 5, 1996 TAG: 9608050110
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER STAFF WRITER
IT'S NOT THATpeople say they don't want to improve their schools. Some wonder, though, whether too much is spent on the new buildings themselves.
Some Bedford County folk think the School Board should get back to basics - in construction, that is.
As the new Montvale Elementary School prepares to open, there's been much public discussion of how the board has spent money on ``designer'' schools and where the money is coming from.
Some residents and new School Board members have questioned the value of glass reading rooms and skylights in the school.
``I think what's happening is that we've been building too many designer schools. Let's build just schools and spend our money on instructional things,'' said Shirley McCabe, who was appointed to fill an unexpired term and then elected to the board in November.
``We've won all kinds of architectural awards for Forest Middle School, but there's too much wasted space ... so much open space," McCabe, a retired teacher, said. ``And, then at Big Island [Elementary School], it's a well-organized, simple, little, functional school.''
With the new Montvale school, McCabe said, ``I get the feeling we are competitive in building schools: `We've got to do something better' than what was done before.''
She thinks the county could save money by having one architect and contractor design and build the schools using similar plans. Two high schools and several older elementary schools do have similar designs.
``All of us know that Montvale [Elementary] could have been built with a lot less money," said McCabe, who taught 32 years in the county.
``What happened to the old brick schools? Let's put more money on the inside,'' new board member Stanley Butler said, referring to instruction.
Susan Gardner of Citizens Who Care, a community group that helped elect several School Board members, said the school system is not being prudent in spending.
``Elaborate structures'' such as the skylight at Montvale and a tower at Forest Middle are decorative but serve no educational purpose, especially since they are not used for solar energy, she said.
``Everybody I know is in awe of the price we spent on this concrete building,'' Gardner said of the new field house at Staunton River High School, which her children attend.
``It's nice to have a field house, but we don't need a $100,000 one. We need air conditioning, roofs that don't leak.''
Counting Montvale Elementary, Bedford County has built five schools since 1988. Montvale is primarily a replacement for a 73-year-old school a few miles west on U.S. 460. It boasts what Superintendent John Kent and construction consultant Jack Wetherby call ``state-of-the-art'' features.
The building was constructed so community groups could have easy access to the gym and cafetorium, Kent said. Parents picking up their children won't have to wait for school buses to move, either.
Unlike at the old school, buffers will reduce noises from the highway, even though each classroom has windows that open. Teachers and the community told architects they wanted a lot of light and fresh air, Kent said. Teachers also will be able to adjust the temperatures in each classroom.
The cone-shaped dome seen from 460 will provide filtered light for the amphitheater in front of the library.
The final bill for the school, its new furnishings, sewer and water systems and other amenities will come to $5.2million.
Since 1988, Bedford County has spent more than $25 million on capital improvements at schools. Last year, the School Board asked for another $6million in bonds.
The priorities for this school year will take about $4million of that. Included are: a new roof at Thaxton Elementary; 12 mobile classrooms; grading for an addition to Stewartsville Elementary; work on Huddleston Elementary's gym; and repairs to the gym roof at Staunton River High and conversion of the school's old cafeteria into a library.
Letters to the editor in the Bedford Bulletin have questioned how the money is being spent; school officials have come under attack for switching repair work from the general budget to the construction budget, for not having an emergency fund for construction, and for cutting a construction supervisor position from the budget.
Money for the Thaxton roof, for example, was moved from the general fund to construction after the School Board had to reduce its budget request by $1million.
Another victim of the budget cut was a construction supervisor who would have been responsible for overseeing all building and maintenance projects. The School Board, however, has formed a joint committee with the county Board of Supervisors to oversee construction projects.
Several School Board members say they thought the position was needed because of all the maintenance problems that arise in a system with 21 schools, an administration building and bus shop.
``We are defeating our purpose if we don't fix roofs,'' said McCabe, because not making repairs would destroy the schools. She advocates putting emergency funds in the next school budget.
School Board member Betty Earle thinks the system needs a construction supervisor and the joint committee with the Board of Supervisors. ``We need someone to tell us about preventive measures.''
``Dr. Kent is not paid to be a construction expert,'' Earle said.
Kent recently presented a report on school conditions to the board. All schools are listed in good, good plus or new condition, although the six-year standards of quality list renovations and upgradings planned for many of the buildings.
A recent federal study shows that a third of the nation's 80,000 schools need major repairs. Sixty percent of them, according to the General Accounting Office survey, need at least some work on major building features such as a roof, floor or wall.
The report estimates it would cost $112 billion to repair the schools; President Clinton recently proposed a $5 billion federal program to repair and replace school buildings across the country.
If the federal government makes money available, Kent thinks Bedford will apply for some. He said it will take a minimum of $5million for the next six years to handle capital improvement projects. That will include three new schools - two in the Forest area and one in the Stewartsville-Moneta community - and roofs on several buildings.
Although grading is going on for an addition at Stewartsville Elementary, this fall marks the first time since 1988 that Bedford schools will open without new construction going on. Kent, who predicts an enrollment increase of 2,000 within the next five years, said the system already is one school behind.
The schools are full when they open and there usually is no space for expansion, he said.
``People misunderstand,'' Kent said. " We've never built ahead. ... I've never been allowed to build extra classrooms; we've never been funded for speculation."
Kent said supervisors and School Board members are aware of the system's capital needs.
``The Board of Supervisors has been very helpful and positive in understanding that, but right now the problem is communication,'' he said.
Some board members and supervisors agree.
Earle said there has been a lack of understanding and communication on projects and policy, but no one person or board is at fault.
New board members, she said, ``did not wake up as experts in construction. We need more information so we can build smarter schools.
``As a School Board, we've got to get a better handle on what we are doing. We need to reassess every school in the county, from floors to roofs.''
Although McCabe thinks some supervisors and taxpayers have questions about construction projects, ``I feel like they are going to be fair to our students. If you present them with the facts, and they believe you, they will provide the funds.''
LENGTH: Long : 146 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL Staff. 1. Superintendent John Kent standsby CNBbefore nearly completed Montvale Elementary, one of the
``state-of-the-art'' schools built or being built by Bedford County.
The new Montvale Elementary will offer community groups easy access
to the gym and cafetorium, he said. color. 2. The new Montvale
Elementary's entrance has an elaborate skylight above an
amphitheater - features that some say are expensive and unnecessary.