ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602160023
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
VOTERS IN South Roanoke County should know a new Cave Spring High School is needed. Voters in the rest of the county, who also have had to await improvements to their schools - and, in some cases, are still waiting - need to be convinced.
Their reluctance to jump aboard the bandwagon for a county bond issue, the bulk of which would pay for the new high school, is understandable. Some rural residents don't enjoy all the services of urban neighborhoods, but have seen their taxes rise nonetheless. Now rapid population growth in urbanized South County has spawned a demand for services that is driving the spending needs of the entire county.
Even so, like it or not, the children are there, and they deserve the same educational opportunities offered in every other part of the district. Those who think the school system has been giving these children favored treatment because of the area's relative affluence should think again. If fairness is an issue, consider:
nThere are more mobile classrooms in South County than in any other part of the school district, with the most at Oak Grove Elementary and Cave Spring Junior High schools.
nOf only three buildings in the system that are not air-conditioned, two are in South County. The only secondary school is Cave Spring Junior High.
nSouth County is the only part of the system where ninth-graders attend junior high rather than high school.
nOnce Glenvar's middle school, which is now being built, opens next fall, South County will be the only part of the system without middle schools.
The county has adopted the middle-school concept as the best grade-level organization for students of various ages. Educators and pediatricians agree that sixth- through eighth-graders are at similar stages of physical and emotional maturity, and benefit from a different style of education than that offered in the mini-high school atmosphere of junior highs.
Middle schools tend to do more team teaching, offer opportunities for more remedial work, do more counseling on how best to meet a student's needs. Teachers tend to talk more with parents.
For their part, ninth-graders in a junior high are denied opportunities they are ready to handle. They don't have access to high-school counselors, who can help them plan their courses with an eye toward preparing for a job or college. But they are in their first year of earning credits toward their high school diploma.
Ninth-graders at a junior high, who are ready for advanced courses, have to spend time traveling to the high school, in some cases losing a class period in their school day.
The new high school isn't the ideal solution. More consideration should have been given to opening two, smaller high schools instead. Still, a Cave Spring High large enough to include the ninth grade is required to place kids in the school settings they need. And building it won't mean that the needs of other schools, in other parts of the county, will not be met. This is not class warfare.
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