Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 7, 1993 TAG: 9312070286
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
For one thing, Wedin found herself in the minority.
Most of her fellow members had connections with schools in Christiansburg or one of Montgomery's outlying areas: Riner, Elliston and Shawsville.
And those areas, along with Prices Fork, have the oldest school buildings and something more: a perception that Virginia Tech's hometown gets more than its share of school resources.
``There's that `Blacksburg gets it and we don't''' attitude, Wedin told the Montgomery School Board last week.
The task force on which Wedin served was one of 18 that studied how to improve the Montgomery schools by the time today's kindergartners graduate in 2006.
A PTA vice president at Gilbert Linkous Elementary School, Wedin reported on school facilities with fellow panel members Keith Rowland, who is Riner Elementary School`s principal and Larry Schoff, the school system`s facilities director.
When it comes to Montgomery's 19 school buildings, the panel concluded, there are definite disparities between the rural areas and the towns, and currently the school system has no organized plan to bring the former up to snuff.
``There probably are some areas out there that need new buildings first,'' Wedin said.
The situation is the result of the schools' capital improvements plan taking it on the chin when it comes to budget time, the panel concluded. Because of these short-term budget savings at the expense of long-term needs, the current system is a Band-Aid approach, panelists concluded.
Falling Branch Elementary School, opened last year, and the new, under-construction Blacksburg elementary school are the system's first new schools in 19 years.
In that time, educational programs, class sizes and technology changed considerably and the panel urged the School Board to consider such matters in a comprehensive study of bringing old schools up to par.
A space utilization study the School Board ordered this fall will be a first step. Schoff and his staff now are reviewing bids and will be forwarding a recommendation to the board soon.
The problem is that many of the older buildings from the 1930s and 1950s aren't as adaptable to present needs as those built in the '60s and '70s, Schoff said. Moreover, most of the schools have the bare minimum of land surrounding them. And some are essentially landlocked because of roads or development.
The advantage for Montgomery is that the growth in student population should be gradual and predictable over the next decade.
School Board members also heard from two other task forces Thursday:
The health and safety group urged that there be at least one school nurse per 1,000 school children, and that the school system hire a supervisor of health and safety services.
Currently there is one school nurse, Bea King, for the entire 8,000-plus student school system. Although requiring more school nurses has been shot down repeatedly in the General Assembly, King urged the School Board to do more for the sake of the students.
The organization and funding task force took a comprehensive look at where Montgomery spends its school budget and how it might maximize the effectiveness of that spending in the future.
The Montgomery School Board finished going through the 18 task force reports on Saturday and next will meet with the 25-member Focus 2006 commission that condensed the task force findings into a final set of recommendations. School Board officials expect to use the research to write a ``vision statement`` for the schools' future and to draft a six-year plan for the division.
by CNB