Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 21, 1993 TAG: 9303210092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ALAS, TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL NO MORE . . .
It was not supposed to be this way.On Saturday, the first day of spring, the children in Roanoke should have been outdoors.
Playing basketball.
Skateboarding.
Playing tennis.
Cruising the shopping malls.
Instead, they were sitting in classrooms - doing math problems, listening to lectures on English literature or practicing their French.
Saturday was a makeup day for city children who missed two days of school last week because of the snowstorm. It was the first time in almost a decade that city schools have been open on Saturday.
Some children didn't like Saturday school. And a lot of them - an estimated 3,175 - stayed home.
About 25 percent of the city's 12,700 students were absent, according to Richard Kelley, the school system's executive for business affairs. The absentee rate on a normal day is 8 percent to 10 percent.
"The attendance is a little better than I has expected," Kelley said.
"It was more than we anticipated," said Charles Lovelace, associate principal at William Fleming High. Lovelace did not have an immediate count at Fleming, but he estimated that at least 70 percent of the Fleming students were in class Saturday.
Despite the chilly temperatures Saturday morning, about a dozen children in the North Ridge Apartments on Cove Road gathered at their bus stop at 7 a.m. as usual.
Ruben Williams, 10, was not happy, but he said there were two good things about going to school on Saturday.
"We won't have anything new to do, and we will get out two hours early," said Williams, a third-grader at Westside Elementary School.
At Ruffner Middle School, Dion Roseboro and his twin, Derek, raised the school's flags about 7:30 a.m. as nearly full buses arrived.
The 15-year-old twins, who are in the eighth grade, said they were treating Saturday just like any other school day, but they would miss their cartoons.
Ruffner Principal Doris Ennis said the students and teachers preferred going to school on Saturday rather than losing their spring break. They'll be in school again on April 3, the first Saturday next month.
"I'd be sleeping if I were at home today," said Kathryn Scott, an eighth-grader at Ruffner. "I wouldn't have gotten up until noon."
Salem and Roanoke County will make up their snow days by shortening their spring break. City school officials chose Saturday school rather than inconvenience people who had already made vacation plans for spring break.
Some leaders in the Jewish community accused school officials of being insensitive to Judaism by scheduling classes on Saturday.
"This won't help achieve the sensitivity and understanding that we need," said Dennis Brumberg, president of the Jewish Community Council.
Kelley said school officials realized that scheduling classes on Saturday was not popular with everyone. But children are excused from school on Saturday if it conflicts with their religious beliefs and practice, he said.
At William Fleming, Tellas Minor, senior class president, said that Saturday school took away his only day of leisure in the week.
"The downside thing is that I won't have any day of leisure. I'm busy with church on Sunday," said Minor, 17. "I guess it's OK. The learning process has to go on."
On Saturday mornings, Omar Hurt, 17, usually watches television and cuts hair. He is an apprentice in a barber shop.
"I guess being in school is OK, but I won't have much free time today," Hurt said. School was dismissed at 12:40 p.m. Saturday. Hurt went to work at 4 p.m. at his part-time job at a store in Valley View Mall.
"I think it's kind of cool to be at school on Saturday," said Melissa Russo, 18, a Fleming senior. "If I was at home, I'd be watching television and helping my mama cook some food. She made me come today."
The Fleming students said their teachers seemed more relaxed than normal. "They were laid back today, and there were some substitute teachers," Russo said.
The normal 50-minute classes were shortened to 30 minutes so students and teachers could leave early.
School officials said the day went smoothly at other schools, too.
Kelley said there is no minimum length of time for students to be in school for the day to count as part of the required 180 days a year to qualify for state funds.