Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 13, 1990                   TAG: 9006150700
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: W-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SALEM BOARD EXTENDS SCHOOL DAY

On the elementary level, the additional time is needed to accommodate new programs, such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), the new Family Life curriculum and expanded foreign language classes, School Superintendent Wayne Tripp said.

School employees at Andrew Lewis Middle School, which is in the midst of a restructuring, had requested that their school day be extended by 20 minutes, Tripp said. And the board had asked Tripp, some months ago, to study extending the 45-minute class periods at Salem High School to 50 minutes to increase instructional time.

School officials previously discussed placing all of the elementary schools on the same schedule and adding more time to the Andrew Lewis schedule. The board's action Tuesday addresses both of those proposals.

"We had initially hoped that all elementary schools would start simultaneously but that cannot be accomplished without additional buses," Tripp said. The new schedules, however, will bring G.W. Carver Elementary School closer to the operating hours of the East, South and West Salem elementary schools, he said.

The new schedules are as follows: East, South and West Salem elementary schools - 8:05 a.m. until 2:25 p.m.; G.W. Carver - 8:40 a.m. until 3 p.m.; Andrew Lewis - 8:45 a.m. until 3:35 p.m; Salem High - 7:50 a.m. until 2:55 p.m.

In another matter, the school board postponed, until 1991, a decision on whether to renovate or tear down Carver.

The board followed a recommendation from a 10-member task force of civic, school and government representatives who asked that the decision be postponed until after Jan. 1, 1991. The group's recommendation was based in part on a request from City Manager Randy Smith, who asked that any major improvements be postponed because of the number of capital projects that require bonded indebtedness.

The task force also recommended postponing the decision until Roanoke and Roanoke County vote on consolidation, which, if approved by voters, could boost the Salem school enrollment.

Improvements to Carver have been targeted in the school system's five-year capital program. The school system is considering three options for Carver: total renovation; using the building for another purpose and building additional space at the other schools to handle the increase in student population; or razing the building and building a new school.

The latter option was vehemently opposed by members of the G.W. Carver Reunion Association, who in April, appealed to the board not the tear down the 51-year-old building.

In other business, the board:

Adopted a six-year school improvement plan, required by the Standards of Quality for Public Schools in Virginia. The 14-goal plan addresses basic skills, self-esteem, wellness, citizenship, enrollment projections, regional services and capital improvements.

The board awarded an $88,514 bid for replacement of the Salem High School roof to D.F. Lynch Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc. of Roanoke.

The board amended the 1989-90 budget to reflect a revenue adjustment that increased the budget by $211,200.

The board adopted a comparative government textbook, one for athletic training and another on a molecular approach to biology.