ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120104
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Roanoke's black community wants to participate in the design and construction contracts for the Addison Middle School renovation because of its historical significance.
Martin Jeffrey, president of the Roanoke branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Tuesday night that black participation is needed on Addison to avoid another controversy such as the Henry Street project.
"This is a priority issue for the NAACP and the community," Jeffrey told the School Board. He said it appears that minority firms have received few contracts on school renovation projects in recent years.
He has asked for records on minority participation in school projects, he said, but hasn't received an adequate report.
School Board member Melinda Payne agreed that the black community should have a voice in the Addison renovation and the board should address the NAACP's concern.
She suggested that the board delay hiring an architectural firm for the Addison renovation that will be done during the 1998-99 school year. But the board, on a 4-3 vote, decided to hire Rife & Wood, a Roanoke firm, to design the project.
Rife & Wood are architects for the Breckinridge and Woodrow Wilson middle school renovation projects.
Superintendent Wayne Harris said a selection committee ranked Rife & Wood as the best-qualified firm for the Addison renovation.
Harris said school officials are keenly aware of Addison's significance to the black community. Addison, now a magnet school, was the city's black high school when schools were segregated.
Harris said school officials contacted Addison alumni and an Addison heritage group to get people to serve on the committee. Three blacks agreed to be on the selection committee.
"We made every effort to get the community involved," Harris said.
There is only one black architectural firm in the Roanoke Valley, which is owned by Edward Barnett, and it is not large enough to do the Addison renovation alone, he said.
Barnett's firm is working on a project at the city's Round Hill Primary School, Harris said.
Richard Kelley, assistant superintendent for operations, said Barnett will work with Rife & Wood on the Addison renovation. He said Rife & Wood also will use a black architectural firm from North Carolina for some architectural services.
"We have made every effort to have African-American participation in the project, and we will," Kelley said.
But Jeffrey said after the meeting that Kelley gave the board some inaccurate information about black participation in the project.
"There are a lot of strange things going on," Jeffrey said. "I think some people have been misled."
Some board members asked Harris if the decision on hiring the architect could be delayed, but he recommended against it. Harris said school officials are using the same schedule for choosing the architect for Addison as they did on the other middle school projects.
Also Tuesday night, the board was told that teachers oppose any reduction in the proposed 4.1 percent pay raise for them next year despite a projected deficit in the school budget.
Esther Cirasunda, president of the Roanoke Education Association, said she sees no reason for the board to consider cutting the proposed raise to balance the budget.
"I implore each and every one of you - do not do that," she told the board.
Speaking at a hearing on the budget, she said a reduction in Harris' recommended 4.1 percent raise would undermine the board's commitment to raise teachers' salaries to the national average by the 1998-99 school year.
Teachers contend that school officials promised a 6 percent raise, but board members have denied it.
LENGTH: Medium: 76 linesby CNB