ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 9, 1996 TAG: 9608090009
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors is divided over whether a bond referendum on three new schools will be possible this fall.
While the end result might be a better thought-out financing packaging, it also may mean more delay for students, parents and teachers who say their schools are overcrowded and antiquated.
County officials want to build new middle schools in Christiansburg and Blacksburg and a new high school for the Shawsville area.
But a Sept. 6 deadline to get the bond referendum on the November ballot is looming, and some supervisors - who hold the political power to seek a referendum - say the county doesn't have enough information to sell the bond referendum to voters.
Key issues remain unresolved:
No decisions have been made to buy new school sites in Shawsville and Christiansburg;
Some supervisors are balking at the School Board's plans to abandon, rather than renovate Blacksburg Middle School and seek a new site outside downtown. Action on School Board request this week in favor of an all-new middle school was delayed until Monday.
Annette Perkins, chairwoman of the School Board, said her board is waiting to hear how the schools will be funded, while the Board of Supervisors is waiting to hear specific site-proposals from the School Board. "I'm not really sure just exactly where both boards are," she said.
"Right now we don't have the sites ... we're not far enough in the process," said Supervisor Nick Rush of Christiansburg. "I don't know if I would support a bond referendum yet. ... We're not near where we need to be to take this to the public."
Rush said more supervisors appeared in favor of a bond referendum until a $37.4 million school bond referendum package failed in April in neighboring Roanoke County.
Other supervisors agree that time is slipping away, but say a bond referendum is possible, if not for the November election, then during a special election.
Ira Long, board vice chairman, said he thinks a bond referendum could pass, "if we really go out and try to sell it."
"I strongly support the bond referendum ... let the citizens decide," said Long, a fiscal conservative from Prices Fork. "Over the years, this is going to mean a large tax increase to pay the debt service."
Henry Jablonski, chairman of the board, said before any decision is made on a referendum, the land for each school has to be defined and architectural concepts of the schools have to be drawn. Montgomery County voters will want to know as much as possible about what they're authorizing the county to go in debt to build, several supervisors said.
While Jablonski, from Christiansburg, would prefer a bond referendum and thinks it's still possible to prepare for one in November, "looking at the amount of work that has to be done, it doesn't look to me as good as it did earlier."
An alternative to a November vote is holding a special election for the referendum, as was done in 1992 with a revenue-sharing agreement between the county and Radford for the Virginia 177 corridor near Interstate 81.
But holding a special election is more costly than waiting for a general election.
Supervisor Jim Moore, usually an outspoken supporter of school spending, believes the three schools are needed but doesn't support a November bond referendum.
"My sense from the School Board, and it may not be accurate, is they think we have enough information to go to referendum [but] I'm not sure we can get enough information together to make the referendum go," Moore said. "I'm very apprehensive that the referendum would fail, and maybe justifiably fail."
"I'm persuaded the need for new schools is here," Moore said, but a bond referendum is "so dicey" that he would prefer the county directly apply for Virginia Public School Authority bonds or state Literary Fund loans.
Supervisor Joe Gorman of Blacksburg also dislikes a bond referendum, but says if the board votes to have one, he will support it.
The Board of Supervisors has a "duty to provide necessary facilities" for education and "a bond referendum tends to sidestep our responsibility," Gorman said.
Like other supervisors, Gorman wants to see specific plans for the schools ready to take to the voters.
Supervisor Joe Stewart of Elliston said the county should seek public school bonds and literary loan funds instead of a bond referendum.
"This way would be a whole lot simpler" and quicker than a bond referendum, Stewart said.
Mary Biggs, the newest supervisor and the board's liaison to the School Board, won't give a definitive yea or nay to a bond referendum just yet. She does have concerns that time that could be used to educate the public on the need for the schools is slipping away
"I'm still waiting to have the work session with the School Board myself because I think it's something that has to be discussed by both groups," said Biggs, who represents part of Blacksburg.
The two boards have scheduled a joint meeting for Aug. 27.
"It is August and November is going to be here before you know it," Biggs said.
Staff writer Lisa Applegate contributed to this story.
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