ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, November 13, 1996           TAG: 9611130096
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-1  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER

HOW MANY HIGH SCHOOLS? CITY TO STUDY NEEDS; 2-SCHOOL SYSTEM LIKELY TO BE RETHOUGHT

By 2004, Roanoke's Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools could be history - or at least they could be different than they are today.

For more than two decades since the old Jefferson High closed, Roanoke has had two high schools. But that number could change as a result of a planning process for high school improvements that will begin early next year.

Superintendent Wayne Harris has recommended that the school system and community undertake a four-year study of high school curriculum and innovative programs before deciding whether to renovate or replace Patrick Henry and William Fleming.

Under Harris' timetable, presented Tuesday night, the architectural plans for the high school facilities would be prepared in 2001; construction would begin in 2002 and be completed in 2004.

"Would we still have two high schools?" Richard Kelley, assistant superintendent for operations, asked rhetorically. "We are not sure if we would have one or two or several smaller units at different locations."

As the planning process begins, school officials have no preconceived ideas and will place no restrictions on the type, size or number of high schools, he said.

Kelley briefed the board on Harris' report because the superintendent was absent due to his father's death.

Although Patrick Henry and William Fleming are about 35 years old and need to be renovated or replaced, the school system has enough time to adequately plan for high school facilities for the next century, Kelley said.

"We think the high schools will be sufficient for the next 7 to 10 years," he said.

The school system is in the middle of a four-year program to renovate four middle schools that will be completed in 1999, before it has to develop a financing plan for the high school improvements.

The Stonewall Jackson Middle School renovation was finished this year, and Breckinridge will be completed next summer. Woodrow Wilson will be renovated in 1997-98 and Addison Aerospace Magnet in 1998-99.

Kelley said the four-year planning process for the high school improvements will include two phases, and city residents will have an opportunity to express their views. The first stage will focus on the high school curriculum and educational programs that will be needed to prepare students for the next century. The second phase will analyze the type of facilities best suited to the curriculum and program that are developed in the first phase.

Kelley said the financing plan for the high school improvements will be developed during 2001.

No cost estimates have been developed, but replacing Patrick Henry and William Fleming could cost in the range of $60 million, based on today's construction costs and new high schools that have been built in recent years, he said.

Rita Bishop, assistant superintendent for instruction, said a steering committee of school administrators, principals, teachers, parents, students, community leaders and others will be appointed to begin the study of curriculum and educational programs.

Bishop said she hopes the committee will not be bound by traditional approaches.

"We hope to set the stage to think in nontraditional ways - to think in terms of what high schools should look like," she said. "I look at this as a paradigm-busting group."

The most innovative educational programs tend to be found in elementary schools, with most high schools entrenched in tradition, Bishop said.

Also Tuesday night, the board:

*Was urged to retain and expand the magnet aviation program at William Fleming High School that provides flight training for students and enables them to get pilot's licenses. Board member John Saunders recently said he worried that some students might be injured, but several parents told the board they are confident that the program is safe.

*Was asked to continue its program to raise teachers' salaries to the national average by 1998. Esther Cirasunda, executive president of the Roanoke Education Association, said the city's teachers' top priority for next year's budget is the pay raise.

LENGTH: Medium:   84 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  NHAT MEYER/Staff. Both Patrick Henry, where this trailer
          is part of the facilities, and William Fleming will require 
          renovation or replacement. color.