ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603250071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
AS ROANOKE COUNTY TAXPAYERS face the April 2 referendum on paying for a new high school, some residents argue two smaller schools would be better.
When residents in Southwest Roanoke County were studying the need for a new Cave Spring High School last year, they considered the possibility of two high schools to serve the area.
Some parents preferred two schools because they said students would do better academically in smaller classes where they would receive more individual attention and get to know teachers better.
Some worried that students would feel lost in a large, impersonal, 1,900-student school. Some were concerned about possible disorder and discipline problems in a big school.
The study weighed the advantages and disadvantages of one school and two schools. In the end, a majority of the residents who attended the planning meetings said they preferred one large school for several reasons, including the lower operating cost of $1.7 million a year.
But sentiment has lingered during the campaign for the school bond referendum April 2. Some people still say two schools would be preferable.
Thomas Fisher, a former county School Board member, said there might be a point of diminishing returns as the number of students in a single school continues to increase.
When the enrollment in high schools reaches 1,500 or more, Fisher suggested, additional layers of administrators are needed to oversee the movement and discipline of larger numbers of students. These become expensive, he said.
Fisher said one high school in Southwest County, instead of two, also reduces extracurricular opportunities in sports and other activities for students.
"It reduces by half the number to be accepted in extracurricular activities: student government, cheerleaders, flag corps, choir, play production, honor societies, yearbook staffs - all these good things that students like to include in their high school resumes seeking college entrance," Fisher said.
But county school officials said administrative costs for one 1,900-student school would not necessarily be higher than two schools in the range of 1,000 students apiece.
Cave Spring High has nearly 1,250 students, but about 400 ninth-graders attend Cave Spring and Hidden Valley junior high schools. Consultants predict Southwest County will have approximately 1,900 students in grades nine-12 in the next decade.
A large school might have more assistant principals than a small school, but the total number would be no larger than the combined staffs for two schools, said Marty Robison, executive assistant for county schools.
"Basically, you would have the same number of people," he said. "In a large school, you might have one more assistant principal who would have been a principal at a second school."
Robison said two schools might require more personnel to monitor the movement of students and prevent discipline problems.
"By having all the students in one school, you cut down on the area that you would have to keep check on," he said.
Education consultants have estimated the county would save $1.7 million a year in lower operating costs by having one high school instead of two.
The biggest savings - $1.1 million a year - would be in lower costs for the teaching staff for one school. There would also be savings in athletic programs, maintenance, utilities and library services.
Consultants estimated administrative costs would actually be nearly $12,000 a year cheaper with one school - $401,056 compared to $412,772 for two schools.
The county would save $125,000 a year in athletic costs with one school and more than $40,000 in utilities.
Consultant William DeJong, who worked on the study of school needs in Southwest County, said the new Cave Spring High would not be large by national standards. High schools in many suburban counties range up to 2,500 students, DeJong said, while some schools in major urban centers like Chicago and Los Angeles have 4,000 or more students.
But the new Cave Spring High would be substantially larger than Roanoke County's other high schools: Northside has 1,045 students; William Byrd 1,021; and Glenvar 603.
But several high schools in Western Virginia are almost as big as the proposed Cave Spring school would be: Franklin County High has 1,850 students; Patrick Henry in Roanoke has nearly 1,700; Pulaski County 1,600; and Roanoke's William Fleming 1,400.
Elsewhere in Virginia, Chesapeake, Newport News and Loudoun County are building new high schools with enrollments ranging between 1,600 and 2,300.
Fairfax County and Virginia Beach have several high schools with enrollments of nearly 2,500.
Kathy Batchler of Southwest Roanoke County, a former special-education teacher and the mother of two junior high students, said some people have suggested the county should build a small new high school and keep using Cave Spring High because of the cost of a 1,900-student school
Sylvia Tricarico, a former teacher who has a child who is a senior at Cave Spring, said Southwest County residents evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of one school.
"We addressed all of these issues. We debated over two schools versus one, long and hard. The consensus was one school," Tricarico said.
Not everyone agrees.
Elizabeth Belcher opposes a large high school. She said the consultants for the study on schools in Southwest County promoted the large school.
"I feel like this bond referendum is on `Do we want a big school or do we not want a big school?''' she said.
"The press and everybody is saying if you vote against it, you're voting against education. That's not true," Belcher said. "There are a lot of people voting against it because of the process by which they came to the conclusion that a big school was needed."
Extracurricular opportunities for students were considered during the residents' debate over one vs. two schools. Some made the same point as Fisher, saying fewer students would have the chance to be on athletic teams at one school.
But others argued that one large new school would basically keep the same opportunities for Southwest County students, not reduce them, because there is only one high school now.
Robison said one large school might increase opportunities in some nonathletic extracurricular activities such as clubs and special interests. At a big school, there might be enough students for clubs in technology or a particular foreign language, where you might have only four or five students interested in such a club at a smaller school, he said.
"There are trade-offs on extracurricular activities. There is concern about the variety of activities as well as athletics," Robison said. "While there might not be as many opportunities in some activities at one school, there might be more in other areas."
LENGTH: Long : 124 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Batchler, Tricarico, Belcher.by CNB