ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 11, 1996 TAG: 9607110091
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Superintendent Deanna Gordon predicts a new study will show that Roanoke County needs to spend more than $120 million for school improvements.
Last year, the School Board approved a capital plan showing the county needed $85 million in school renovations and new buildings in the next five years.
But Gordon said Wednesday night she expects that a study of needs at all schools that is just beginning will produce a cost estimate that is 50 percent higher than the earlier figure.
She told the presidents of about a dozen county civic leagues that there are several reasons so many school improvements are needed at one time.
Most of the county's schools were built 30 to 40 years ago, she said. A few were built more than 60 years ago. The electrical and heating systems, plumbing, roofs and other fixtures have become worn and antiquated, she said.
Excluding the Glenvar Middle School, which is under construction, the county has built only one school since 1980 - William Byrd Middle.
In recent decades, the schools have added new programs and new requirements for access for disabled students have been mandated, she said. Many schools also need renovations to accommodate computers and other technology, she added.
"Now the whole bill is coming due," Gordon told the civic league leaders, who quizzed her about several school projects, including the delay in the renovation of Fort Lewis Elementary.
Several civic leagues played a key role in the defeat of a $37.4 million bond issue in April for a new Cave Spring High School and several other smaller projects.
The School Board has hired Martin & Associates, a Roanoke Valley architectural and engineering firm, to assess school needs throughout the county following the defeat of the bond issue.
School officials decided to undertake the countywide study to counter complaints of favoritism during the bond referendum campaign. Ninety percent of the defeated bond issue would have been spent on a new Cave Spring High, with smaller amounts earmarked for half a dozen other projects.
Voters in Southwest County approved the bond referendum, but it was rejected overwhelmingly in other parts of the county.
To help end the sectionalism and build support for a new package of school improvements, the School Board has appointed a 21-member residents' panel to participate in the study and rank the projects. The panel includes members from each magisterial district.
School officials hope the committee will help persuade voters on the need for school improvements and develop a consensus on the projects.
The study won't be finished in time for a bond referendum in November because a series of public meetings at each school won't be held until this fall.
Several civic league presidents complained about the delay in the Fort Lewis renovation that was scheduled to begin this summer.
Gordon said school officials are awaiting an answer from the Board of Supervisors on whether it will provide an additional $1.2 million for the project. The supervisors will consider the request July 23.
The Fort Lewis renovation originally was estimated to cost $1.3 million, but the low bid was nearly $2 million. Kitchen equipment, furnishings and other items have pushed the cost to nearly $2.5 million.
Architects say that half of the cost increase is the result of inflation since the estimate was made five years ago and the rest was caused by an expansion in the scope of the project. Gordon said the gym was enlarged and other changes were made at the request of parents.
Gordon said architects have determined that there is no way to scale down the Fort Lewis renovation to the original $1.3 million projection.
Some civic league presidents said they were concerned about drugs in the schools, complaining that the problem is getting worse.
Gordon said the county will have a police resource officer in each of its four high schools next year to help deal with the issue. She said the schools also need more help from parents in steering youngsters away from drugs and alcohol.
She also was asked about news reports that reading scores are declining nationally - and other standardized test scores are down, too - while spending on education is at a record high.
"A good education doesn't come cheap," Gordon said, "but reading scores are not down in Roanoke County."
Up to 70 percent of the schoolchildren in some large urban school systems come from low-income families and this has an impact on national test scores, she said.
"I don't want to sit in judgment [on these school systems] but our scores are not dropping," she said.
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