ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997 TAG: 9704030011
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE THE ROANOKE TIMES
After two years of trying to keep a three-school building project together, the Montgomery County School Board agreed to prioritize the projects.
The Shawsville/Elliston area should receive the next new school, but a renovated Blacksburg Middle school shouldn't be far behind.
That's if a construction time line, approved in a 5-2 vote Tuesday night by the Montgomery County School Board, actually is followed.
After a more than 40 minutes in which students, parents and grandparents from Shawsville spoke of the desperate need for a new school, the board agreed to push forward with the high school first.
The time line, developed by school administrators, stretches out to the year 2002. It begins with the new elementary school in Riner that is under construction. Design for the high school in Shawsville would begin in the next few weeks and work on Blacksburg Middle would begin next spring. Construction of a new middle school in Christiansburg would not start until 2000.
Construction is stretched out partly to keep borrowing costs at $10,000 per year. The county can only borrow that much annually for its projects that require tax-exempt loans.
Board members said they hope by considering those financial limitations, the Board of Supervisors would be more likely to agree with the plan and fund the schools.
County Finance Director Carol Edmonds said Wednesday depending how the school buildings are funded, that large amount of spending for the next six years could limit projects for other needs in the county.
The time line, in one form or another, has been considered by the School Board - as well as the Board of Supervisors - since the school building project began in earnest three years ago. Neither board has been willing to commit to a plan until now because it prioritizes one school over the others.
But, said Chairwoman Annette Perkins, "I'm convinced this is the only way to get the ball rolling."
For the past two years, the two boards have been trying to establish sites for the new schools and discussing how the project should be funded. This way, Perkins said, the boards can focus on getting each school under way.
Before the vote was taken, several people told the board about the needs in Shawsville for a larger high school separate from the middle school.
Seventh-grader Ann Ryan said she recently had to take a test in the auditorium, with another class nearby, because there wasn't any room for her group. Teacher Melissa Downs told of the safety hazards during art class, because it's held in the science room, near the Bunsen burners.
The 62-year-old building does need to be replaced, said member Wat Hopkins, but the same could be said for the overcrowded, 40-year-old Blacksburg Middle School.
"We've got two desperate needs [and] neither community can say we need this school more than the other," he said. Hopkins and Jim Klagge, who both represent parts of Blacksburg, voted against the plan. Vice Chairman David Moore and member Bernie Jortner were absent.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB