ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602160066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Sarah Balzer feels like a student without a school she can call her own. She's torn between two schools - unable to enjoy the full benefits of either.
Balzer is a ninth-grader at Cave Spring Junior High in Southwest Roanoke County, but she has to travel to Cave Spring High during the school day for an advanced biology course she wants to take.
Balzer has to miss some class and extracurricular activities at Cave Spring Junior High because she's taking the class. She isn't allowed to participate in clubs at Cave Spring High.
Because of travel time to the high school and other necessary schedule adjustments, she didn't get to take an art course at the junior high.
Last fall, Sarah played on the high school's junior varsity volleyball team. That required a second bus ride daily between the two schools.
"I don't feel like I'm a part of either school," Balzer said.
Cave Spring High is not large enough to house ninth-graders. They attend Cave Spring Junior High and Hidden Valley Junior High.
Cave Spring High is among fewer than a dozen high schools in Virginia without space for ninth-graders. The three other Roanoke County high schools - Glenvar, Northside and William Byrd - house ninth-graders.
At a news conference Thursday, Balzer urged county voters to approve a $37.4 million school bond issue that includes funds for a new Cave Spring High large enough to house ninth-graders.
She received strong support Thursday night from some residents in Vinton who agreed that ninth-graders in the Cave Spring area, like their counterparts in the rest of the county, ought to be able to attend a high school .
"It's wrong - and an unpardonable sin to allow this situation to continue to exist," said Ray Sandifer, a former Vinton town councilman.
"It's time that we, here in east county, got behind Southwest County and helped them," he told about 60 people at a town meeting on the bond referendum. "Other areas helped us when we needed it."
Balzer joined two other students, Matt Wagner, a sixth-grader at Glenvar Elementary, and Garrett Walters, a seventh-grader at Northside Middle, in appealing for approval of the bond referendum.
The students spoke at the news conference held by Citizens for Education, a newly formed group that is working for a yes vote on the bonds. Terri Langford, co-chairwoman, said the group plans an aggressive campaign to inform voters on the need for the new high school and other school projects.
Several organizations, including the executive committee of the County Parent-Teacher Association Council, have endorsed the bond issue. But the PTA Council itself has not endorsed the bonds, a spokeswoman said Thursday.
School Board member Michael Stovall held the town meeting Thursday night to rally support for the bonds in the Vinton area. Most people said they favored the referendum, but several said voters, especially elderly residents, are concerned about the county's rising real estate assessments.
"We are all in this for the good of all the children of the county - not just one area," Stovall said.
Vinton Supervisor Harry Nickens said he supports the bond issue, but he said he hopes supervisors won't have to raise taxes to repay the bonds. The board has said a 2-cent increase in the real estate tax is the maximum that would be required.
The biggest part of the bond issue - $33.6 million - is earmarked for the new Cave Spring High, but there are funds for schools in other areas of the county. It includes funds for schools in the Vinton district - $800,000 for renovations to Mount Pleasant Elementary and $150,000 for architectural and engineering fees for an addition to William Byrd Middle School.
"These are real needs in the bond issue. It won't fix all of our needs, but it will get us almost halfway there," School Board Chairman Jerry Canada said.
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