ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on May 30, 1996.
iClarification
The Montgomery County School Board on Tuesday discussed seeking a
state waiver to keep the current Blacksburg Middle School site but did
not consider a formal proposal. The discussion was reported in a story
Wednesday about flaws in a study of long-term space needs.
Montgomery County school administrators dropped a bomb Tuesday night that could potentially destroy the School Board's plan to build four new schools.
Superintendent Herman Bartlett announced the facility use study - the basis for a 20-year growth plan for Montgomery County schools - is flawed.
"We found we had some information that was not correct," Bartlett said. "Out of that, we have determined we may not be in compliance with state standards."
Specifically, the acreage planned for a new middle school in Blacksburg may be below state requirements. Three years ago, the Board of Supervisors allocated $60,000 to study school facility requirements as the county grows.
Based on the study produced by Kinsey, Shane & Associates, the school administrators planned four new schools to alleviate immediate overcrowding. Along with a new elementary school in Riner, a new middle school in Christiansburg, and a new high school in Shawsville, the Blacksburg Middle School was planned.
A committee of Blacksburg residents originally recommended a 38-acre site. That much available land would inevitably put the school away from the heart of the town, which many residents opposed.
The committee compromised with a plan to tear down the current facility and build a new one on the same site.
But that agreement was essentially rendered moot Tuesday. The state requires a middle school of 1,200 - the planned size for the new school - to be at least 22 acres.
"We think the present site is 21 plus or minus acres," Bartlett said.
School administrators planned to present the four-school plan to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday night. In preparing last week for that presentation, Bartlett said, they noticed the difference.
Vice chairman Barry Worth suggested leaving the site as it is, but other board members proposed asking the state for a waiver to keep the current plan.
Bartlett frowned on these ideas, saying the entire study needs to regain credibility.
"There's a confidence level that we're going to have to clean up," he said. After a brief discussion, the School Board voted 8-1 to support the superintendent's recommendations: to resurvey the Blacksburg Middle School site and check the rest of the study for accuracy.
The Board also voted 8-1 to request up to $2,500 in additional funds to re-examine the survey. Worth voted against both measures.
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