“I’m hoping party politics will not win over doing what is right for kids in Roanoke County,” Vinton’s School Board representative Tim Greenway said in response to the March 22, 2023 letter from the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors concerning school CIP projects involving a new BCAT Career and Technical Education Center (CTE), and renovations to W.E. Cundiff and Glen Cover Elementary Schools.
(The Board of Supervisors letter may be read in its entirety at https://vintonmessenger.com/roanoke-county-board-of-supervisors-sends-letter-to-school-board-concerning-cip-projects-involving-bcat-w-e-cundiff-elementary-and-glen-cove-elementary-schools/ or on the Vinton Messenger Facebook page)
“Two elementary schools in two communities are the true losers (one of which is in the Vinton District), as well as all of Roanoke County citizens losing because the Board of Supervisors will not fully fund the three projects.”
“They want us to start CTE at the expense of the two elementary schools. A high price for the Vinton and Catawba communities to pay when the BOS could do the right thing and put off the Hollins library to fund the two elementary schools now.”
“Both schools are in dire need of being renovated to help facilitate learning. According to a past State Superintendent these two elementary schools may be the last two open concept elementary schools in the State of Virginia.”
“We need $21 million to complete the two elementary schools and the CTE facility. We started this process over four years ago and couldn’t convince the BOS until early last year that the CTE center was a project they needed for economic development (obviously jobs haven’t been important in the last decade).”
“Can you imagine the savings if we had started the building process four years ago ($93 million may have been $65-70 million).”
“The obvious educational benefit of CTE to our children and students is an alternative to college, to be ready to enter the work force out of high school, and in trades needed to sustain our local economy.”
“Unfortunately, the Board of Supervisors place a higher importance on saving $12 million in surplus last year, approximately the same or higher surplus this year, building another library for $18 million and other unidentified projects for $30 million (per the last CIP document we were given).”
“The BOS obviously believe they know more about the educational needs and facilities than the school board. I’m not sure why we need elected school boards in Roanoke County if the BOS will be dictating our Capital Needs.”
Greenway is weighing a run for the Vinton Board of Supervisors seat if the CIP Project at Cundiff isn’t started within the next year.
“We can’t let our children continue to be devalued!”
