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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 2, 1995                   TAG: 9508020058
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

MONTGOMERY COUNTY OKS RINER SCHOOL

After an uncharacteristically brief discussion - less than half an hour - the Montgomery County School Board unanimously accepted a resolution Tuesday night to begin buying land and designing a new elementary school in Riner.

A study approved by the board in January recommended building four schools to relieve overcrowding.

The four projects are two new middle schools in Christiansburg and Blacksburg, a new high school in Shawsville, and the new elementary school in Riner.

Last week, the Board of Supervisors decided to focus first on the elementary school, agreeing that Riner is its top priority.

The current Riner elementary, which holds 273 students, and the 174-capacity Bethel Elementary would be replaced by one school.

Initial funding - $1.3 million to buy land and begin design work - would come out of the School Board budget. That money should be reimbursed by a bond sale.

According to Board of Supervisors member Henry Jablonski, sites already are being considered in the Riner area, though he couldn't be specific about location.

by CNB