ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, August 8, 1996               TAG: 9608080017
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG

STUDENT READMITTED; BARTLETT'S CONTRACT TALK PUT ON HOLD

With a majority of its meeting held behind closed doors, the Montgomery County School Board moved through less than half of its agenda Tuesday night.

The board met for four hours of the almost six-hour meeting in executive, or closed session.

The board did vote 7-1 in public to allow a fifth-grade boy back into school this fall after being expelled almost a year ago. Roy Vickers voted against the action; David Moore did not attend the meeting.

The boy brought a BB gun on his bus. Under a new state law, the toy was considered a weapon and required expulsion for one year. School boards have the right to review cases and readmit students to school early.

The board postponed a decision to request that the county Board of Supervisors purchase land for a new, 1,200-pupil middle school in Blacksburg. Superintendent Herman Bartlett said the board needed to discuss the land behind closed doors before voting on the request.

While the board did pass a personnel report to hire almost 50 employees for the new school year, it did not publicly alter Bartlett's contract. Before the meeting, Vice Chairman Barry Worth said he wanted to discuss giving the superintendent a raise. Board members said later they have not discussed that issue yet.

The board will resume the agenda at a meeting Monday. The meeting will begin with a closed hearing for a student disciplined by the School Board last spring.

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