Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 15, 1990 TAG: 9004150235
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PATRICIA LOPEZ BADEN EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"We just don't see the advantages for us in a merger," said Debra Holdren, chairwoman of East County Citizens for Education.
The group said its decision was prompted by a recent consolidation workshop it hosted, where hundreds of Vinton residents expressed concerns about the merger.
"It was very clear to us after the meeting in mid-March that the vast majority - about 300 parents - were opposed to consolidation," Holdren said.
Ironically, Holdren herself was among those who signed the original petition that forced consolidation talks between the city and county.
"It made sense to me because the current configuration of the city and county is just plain stupid," she said. "The county can't have anything centrally located."
But Holdren said she has become dissatisfied with the merger proposal and now actively opposes it.
"Originally, we were told the state would award a substantial amount of money to a merged school system," she said, "and that would allow us to improve our schools."
Instead, local government will have to pay most of the $4.8 million needed to merge the two school systems. The state is offering $500,000 a year for five years.
"We're not talking about one-time costs," she said. "These will be ongoing costs used mostly to elevate city schools to the county standard."
County residents will reap little benefit from the additional $4.8 million in costs, yet will have to pay the taxes needed to raise that money.
City and county school officials have estimated that of the $4.8 million, $3.7 million will be used to upgrade city schools. That will include starting a full-day kindergarten, more reading teachers, more elementary guidance counselors, an elementary music program, and expanding the high school day from six periods to seven.
The remaining $1 million will be used to upgrade county schools, with an elementary art program and slightly increased fringe benefits, as well as certain salary increases.
Holdren said that east county parents also are concerned about the possible loss of neighborhood schools.
In an attempt to dispel the notion that the merged school system might have to bus students for racial balance, city officials recently hired a noted desegregation lawyer for an expert opinion.
Last week, former Virginia Attorney General William Broaddus said that even though current attendance zones would result in a racially unbalanced system, they posed no legal problem.
Broaddus said that without proof of discriminatory intent, "a court would not order remedies such as the transfer of students from outlying suburban schools to schools within the center of Roanoke or vice versa."
Roanoke city schools are 40 percent black; county schools are 97 percent white.
Holdren, however, said racial concerns are not at the heart of parents' fear of busing.
"What we're most concerned about is that the city and county literally have different definitions of neighborhood schools."
Holdren said that at the March meeting, Roanoke County Supervisor Harry Nickens - a member of East Citizens - showed them a map of city schools attendance zones.
That map, she said, showed clearly that not all city children attend the school closest to their home, and that children from the same elementary school often are sent to different middle schools and high schools.
In the county, she said, children stay together during elementary, middle and high school.
"No one can tell us which definition of neighborhood schools will survive a merger," she said. "They might continue to use both systems for a while, but not for long. It wouldn't be practical."
Holdren said county parents are leery of potentially longer bus rides for their children, which they contend would increase risk and make for a longer day.
"This has very little to do with race," she said. "Parents just don't want their children on a bus any longer than necessary. They don't want to see their type of neighborhood school disappear.
"Let's be logical," she said. "What if we need a new school in our area and there are underenrolled schools in the city? No matter what they say now, it would be cheaper to bus my child across town than to build a new school in my neighborhood.
Holdren said Broaddus' opinion on busing "is just that - an opinion.
Holdren said east county parents also are concerned about losing clout with the school board.
City officials have proposed giving the county a majority on an expanded 11-member school board, with a special representative from Vinton.
Holdren said having a Vinton member would help, "but that's just one person, and the larger that board grows, the more inaccessible and detached they'll be."
All in all, she said, "we don't see the advantage. County schools continue to be the big draw for Roanoke County. Nobody's given us any good reasons why we should give that up."
East Citizens is the second group to come out against consolidation.
A group called Citizens Against Merger also is fighting the consolidation plan. Its leaders include businessman Hugh Key, who twice led the fight against a county police department, and Lela Spitz of the Hanging Rock Taxpayers League.
Staff writer Mark Layman also contributed information for this story.
by CNB