ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 10, 1996 TAG: 9610100071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Jean Hitchins loves Crystal Spring Elementary School, but she's worried because a growing number of other South Roanoke parents are sending their children to other schools.
Hitchins is the mother of a kindergartner and a fourth-grader. She said they are receiving a good education at the school. She said the Crystal Spring building is beautiful, the school does not neglect the basics and that her children can walk there safely.
Still, she said, many parents think there are problems that are creating "an atmosphere of declining morale" at the school.
"More and more parents are seeking 'escape routes' from Crystal Spring in terms of the PLATO program, other Roanoke city schools,Roanoke] County schools and private schools," a group of parents wrote in a letter to Superintendent Wayne Harris that was read by Hitchins at the School Board meeting Wednesday.
"Families that have been longtime supporters of public education are now actively examining alternatives to their neighborhood school," the parents wrote.
Principal Marsha Christy said Wednesday that Crystal Spring is losing pupils mainly because some parents prefer to send their children to the PLATO program for gifted elementary pupils.
The PLATO program for grades three through five is offered at four elementary schools: Fishburn Park, Fairview, Monterey and Raleigh Court. Test scores are used to select children for the advanced program.
Crystal Spring pupils must attend Fishburn Park if they want to enroll in PLATO.
Christy said the number of pupils leaving Crystal Spring for the gifted program varies each year, but 20 were selected from the second grade this year alone. This was the equivalent of losing an entire class, she said.
The departure of pupils for the PLATO program is the chief reason for the decline in Crystal Spring's enrollment from 316 a year ago to 284 this year.
Christy said the school recorded a net loss of only two pupils because of transfers to private schools this year. Seven pupils left for private schools, but five children from private schools enrolled at Crystal Spring this fall, she said.
"That is the parents' choice, and we can't control it," she said.
Christy said the school lost a few pupils to Roanoke County and other localities because parents moved out of the city, but she doesn't have a number. She said it's not unusual for the school to lose a few children each year because they move out of town.
In the letter to Harris, the Crystal Spring parents said the loss of pupils will mean that fewer parent volunteers will be available for the school's activities.
"The more families who leave the school, the more the remaining families question their own commitment," the parents said.
Melissa Clay, president of the Crystal Spring PTA, said Wednesday that the parents became concerned this year and formed a task force to study the situation because of the number of children leaving for the PLATO program.
"We want the children's needs to be met at Crystal Spring without parents feeling the need to send their children to another school," she said. "We want people to stay at our school."
At this point, the parents are not specifically asking for a PLATO program at Crystal Spring, she said, but they do want school officials to determine whether the school's programs need to be expanded.
"We want a program that meets the needs of all our children," Hitchins said. "We don't want people to feel they have to leave."
The parents have asked Harris to document the number of pupils who have left Crystal Spring and their parents' rationale for choosing another school.
Neither Harris nor any of the board members reacted immediately to the parents' concerns, but Chairwoman Marsha Ellison said they will respond.
The parents also complained that the school's site-based council is ineffective and that the school does not communicate its goals clearly.
The site-based council is a group of school officials, parents and neighborhood leaders who help make decisions about the school's operations. The council has been used as a fund-raising vehicle or a one-way communication forum from the school to teachers and parents, but it does not seek the community's views, the parents said.
Christy said school officials will review the site-based council to see whether changes are needed.
"We do not believe that Crystal Spring's stakeholders have a clear understanding of the vision and goals for our school," the parents also wrote.
Christy said school officials and teachers already provide a lot of information to parents about the school's goals and vision through newsletters, workshops, meetings and other forums.
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