ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 11, 1996 TAG: 9601110089
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
Even as plans get under way to build four new schools in Montgomery County in the coming five years, one of the two elementary schools built in the last four years is experiencing overcrowding.
The Board of Supervisors has agreed to borrow up to $8 million this spring to pay for the first of the four proposed schools - a new Riner-area elementary school.
Montgomery's school population has grown 6 percent since 1991, from approximately 8,450 pupils to 8,960 this year.
County School Board members were surprised to hear Tuesday that Falling Branch Elementary School in Christiansburg, one of the two new schools, is already experiencing space problems.
The 1996-97 budget, for instance, calls for two new teachers at Falling Branch, which opened in September 1992. And the School Board may soon have to consider ways to alleviate a space crunch at the school, which has 518 pupils.
Finance Director Danial Morris said the board will have to consider at least three options, including adding trailer classrooms, reconfiguring some spaces at the school or - a possibility that's sure to be controversial - redistricting to shift some Falling Branch pupils to 375-pupil Christiansburg Primary School.
The crowding situation, at this point, probably won't affect the 1996-97 budget, which includes five new trailer classrooms, none slated for Falling Branch.
The problem, said Montgomery County school Superintendent Herman Bartlett, is that some parents have chosen to build their homes in the Falling Branch Elementary district because of the new school. That's driven growth beyond projections developed when the school was being planned.
A similar situation is developing at Kipps Elementary School in Blacksburg, which has 463 pupils and opened in September 1994. In that case, though, the School Board anticipated the extra growth and added four classrooms to the design, which is based on the one used for Falling Branch.
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