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

DATE: SATURDAY, August 26, 1995                   TAG: 9508280144
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV7   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                 LENGTH: Medium

CITY'S SCHOOLS LOOK FOR MORE OUT-OF-TOWNERS

If the current application rate continues, out-of-town students could show up in record numbers this school year. Even before the first day of school Sept. 5, the School Board has approved 158 tuition-paying, nonresident students to attend classes in the city, and "the cards and letters are still coming in," Radford High School Principal James "Buddy" Martin told the board Thursday.

Last year, 172 students from outside the city paid to attend school in Radford, but School Board Chairman Guy Gentry predicted Friday that the final figure this fall could top that.

"Word is getting around," he said, citing the system's small size and academic reputation as the main drawing cards.

Just how many tuition students the city' schools can handle is not clear. Most are middle- or high-schoolers, where space is less precious right now.

But the city has to be careful, Gentry said. "We don't want to get ourselves in a position where we'll have to add staff because we added one student too many," he said.

Superintendent Michael Wright told the board the city was unable to accept some applicants because of a lack of space. Gentry said that was mostly in the lower grades, which have experienced an enrollment wave the past year or so.

Wright said applications showed up early this year, too. "We're about where we need to be," he said. "This does not present a problem to us."

In 1990, when some 70 to 80 tuition students were enrolled, the board lowered the fee from $200 to $100 to make it more attractive for nonresidents to attend city schools. Additional students from the same family can go to school in the city for $75.

Most of the tuition students come from neighboring Pulaski County.

Tuition students have not only helped swell the city's sagging enrollments over the past several years, they have also helped the bottom line. The city collects approximately $2,000 in state aid for each one.

Also at Thursday's meeting, the School Board unanimously approved giving Athletic Director Norman Lineburg authority to determine football playing schedules starting in 1996, including playing Class AA teams.

Radford dropped from Class AA to Class A two years ago, effective last year, citing athletes' safety as a major concern and marking the demise of annual games with area rivals that included Christiansburg, Blacksburg and Carroll County.

"Safety was the issue in terms of the limits on playing AA schools," Gentry said Thursday in recalling the board's earlier, agonizing decision to drop to the lower classification. The move coincides with the expected Virginia High School League approval of changes in districts, regions and group classifications effective for three years starting in the 1996-97 school year.

Lineburg said after the vote that Radford might not play any AA teams. "It depends on what's out there for us," he told the board.

Radford would be in the 25-school Region C, among the six schools of the Three Rivers District. In addition to Radford, the district includes Auburn, Glenvar, Giles, Floyd and Shawsville.

"It benefits us," Martin said of the plan. "The addition of Glenvar is a positive for us."

by CNB