Steve Frey
Contributing writer
At the end of the movie “Casablanca,” Humphrey Bogart’s character says to Claude Rains’ character, “Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
The Radford City Council and the Radford City School Board met for their first quarterly meeting of the year on Monday in council chambers. The council and board have committed to meeting regularly to promote better communication and planning. This meeting focused primarily on school division renovation needs and systematic budgeting.
The same could be said about the Radford City Council and the Radford City School Board at their first meeting together this year on Monday evening.
The school board and council have vowed to meet quarterly so that they can better work together and communicate about mutual issues, initiatives and the budgeting process. There was a feeling of collegiality and mutual respect as members shared viewpoints about various matters.
School Superintendent Rob Graham began by describing a trip by administrators to see High Tech High in San Diego and mentioned that they are implementing some of the ideas they brought back, including revising the high school and intermediate school schedules.
In fact, this evening and Monday, September 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Radford City Public Schools Central Office at 1612 Wadsworth St., division personnel will share information about the scheduling process and plans, and the community is cordially invited to attend.
Graham also mentioned integrating instruction and the positive effect it has had on the elementary level, with plans to begin working with the high school and intermediate school staff members on this instructional strategy.
He also thanked the council for recognizing Belle Heth and McHarg for their state achievement awards and mentioned that he will be going to Charlottesville to accept the Wells Fargo Academic Award for receiving first place in that competition on the high school level.
As far as needs were concerned, he referenced last spring’s presentation to the council where he explained that facility needs top the list.
He also mentioned that there are now new problems with the lights at the high school football field.
They will be able to get away with a small fix for the rest of the season, but the division will have to replace all of their lights by next fall. This will cost an additional $400,000.
As with last spring, the locker rooms and the McHarg campus top the list of needs on that renovation list.
Another long-range goal is to have the Southwest Virginia Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning on the campus, but “that takes kind of a back seat to where our priorities are right now, and that’s, of course, McHarg,” Graham said.
Graham went on to explain that, “at McHarg, we are not equitable with our children right now.” He talked about the lack of facilities with the cafe-gym-atorium that is used for many purposes but displaces other activities when in use.
The boiler is original to the building and could break down at any time. He talked about the lack of air conditioning and how difficult it is on hot fall days.
Mayor David Horton brought up the initiative Senator Bill Stanley has been pushing for extra money coming into the state from Internet taxes, but Graham said that he hadn’t heard any specifics yet.
Graham also described the locker rooms that lack working showers, which prevents students from taking showers or having sports tournaments sponsored at the high school. The showers are used as storage sheds, and there are leaks as well as electrical needs. There are also problems with sewage.
Board Member Joe Hester encouraged the development of a long-range plan with funding attached. There is a detailed needs assessment plan, but there is a need to plan for year-by-year financing.
Dalton classrooms are being updated as complete learning classrooms using carryover division funds.
Graham emphasized the need to keep competitive with neighboring school divisions like Pulaski, which is building a new 50 million dollar middle school and Floyd, which is considering a new multi-million dollar STEM building.
Horton asked about long-range planning for funding and how far it will go into the future.
Graham explained that the current needs assessment and approximately $22 million (plus $400,000 now for the lights) would renovate all schools and take care of needs long into the future. As he explained last spring, an additional six million dollars would be needed for a new Innovative Teaching and Learning Center bringing the total to $28 million for everything discussed.
Councilman Rob Gropman asked about a past estimate of $25 million, and Graham explained that a stand-alone teaching center will cost six million dollars because the renovation of the armory for three million dollars is no longer possible as that building is now used for different purposes, reiterating the $28 million total ($22 million plus $6 million for the center).
Board Member Lee Slusher said, “A school division that is on top will help take care of a lot of our economic problems, “pointing out that the entire community is helped by having an excellent school system that draws families and businesses to the city. Councilman Dick Harshberger agreed about a school division’s significant influence on economic development.
Board Member Liz Altieri pointed out that there are 132 school divisions in Virginia, but Radford is 109 in terms of per pupil expenditures, and yet we get amazing results because of the community and the people who work here, but questioned how long that could continue without proper funding.
She also pointed out that there are 101 divisions (of that 132) with municipalities making a greater per pupil local contribution (the city’s contribution in Radford’s case) of funding. “After we look at building issues, we also have to look at what we are spending per pupil,” Altieri said.
Graham added that Radford has an amazing staff, but said that at some point teachers are going to say they don’t want to work in these facilities anymore and decide to go somewhere else.
“That’s a concern that I have because we don’t want to lose them,” he said.
Jack Murphy, an architect with Thompson & Litton in Radford, shared a couple of preliminary possibilities for a place on the high school campus for the Southwest Virginia Innovative Center for Teaching and Learning.
Councilwoman Jessie Critterton encouraged the city council and school board to take a tour of the facilities to see the needs in person. She pointed out that it is very helpful to see something in person as opposed to reading about it on a list.
Harshberger asked about the idea of working together with New River Community College, perhaps building a branch on the high school campus, which could meet the needs of both the high school and NRCC.
The city council and school board agreed to take a tour of the buildings (at least McHarg and the high school) as part of their next meeting.
Members also mentioned wanting to review the specific needs assessment requirements and costs and begin working on a long-range, multi-year budget plan.
