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School board mulls third high school

Roanoke school board members appeared amenable Tuesday in exploring how to build a third high school, which could cost $180 million.

The board didn’t take action, but is expected to give formal guidance next month. Board members some expressed sympathy with officials’ assessments that expanding the current high schools or transforming Jefferson Center into a school would not be the best solution.

A new comprehensive or magnet high school for 1,450 students is needed, school district leaders say, after reviewing options to address overcrowding.

The school district has been exploring how to expand since an August report showed Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools have 20 percent more students than they can handle.

Demographic projections indicate the high schools will enroll 250 more students by 2050. That translates to about 1,000 more students across both schools, which only have capacity for about 1,600 students each.

Constructing a new high school could cost at least $150 million, and may be closer to $180 million with buying property, according to Chris Perkins, the district’s chief operations officer. 

“We’ve heard the financial forecast of our city manager,” Perkins said. “We don’t know that the city has the debt capacity.”

Finding enough land — a major high school would need 80 acres, Perkins said — will be the dealbreaker on whether a new school is doable.

“If we can’t get a site for it, it ends quickly,” Perkins said. 

Last year, Superintendent Verletta White floated the idea of turning Jefferson Center into an arts and sciences magnet school. But the district later determined the performing arts venue could only accommodate 360 students and would be costly to renovate.

“On the surface it sounded very exciting,” Ben Motley, an architect at RRMM Architects, told board members Tuesday. But Jefferson Center only has about two acres of use, compared to William Fleming’s 28-acre building footprint.

“It’s a postage stamp in comparison, so right away that’s a big red flag,” Motley said. 

Expanding the two high schools may also not accommodate further growth, and would exacerbate current traffic problems with buses, district leaders said.

Board member Joyce Watkins recalled residents’ frustration over the construction of Patrick Henry.

“There’ll be a whole lot of hell raising if you expand,” Watkins said.

Ex-nursing home chief sues over sanctions

The former administrator of a Roanoke nursing home has asked a court to void sanctions imposed by state regulators who found lapses in care on his watch.

David Chance Craft, head of the Raleigh Court Health and Rehabilitation Center from 2017 until early 2021, sued the Virginia Board of Long-Term Care Administrators and Virginia Department of Health Professions in Roanoke Circuit Court Feb. 7. 

Craft is urging the court to release him from probation and direct the board to find fully in his favor as to a series of allegations of shoddy care.

When the case went to hearing in December, the board made findings critical of his operation of the center in 2020 and 2021, a time period in which the pandemic put constraints on staffing. “The evidence showed a systemic failure of nursing and physician services at Raleigh Court. Mr. Craft failed to demonstrate he understood his responsibilities when providing oversight of the facility,” the board decision said.

In one example, a Hardy man withdrew his mother from the nursing home after finding her with mouth and foot issues and arranged for her transport to a hospital. A forensic hospital nurse who examined her testified that the woman had been neglected. 

The board placed Craft on probation for at least two years and directed he retrain in the responsibilities of a nursing home administrator, mandated reporting, dementia and record-keeping.

In his legal attack on the decision, Craft argues that the department conducted an inadequate investigation, trampled on his rights by taking two years and four months to bring his case to a hearing and made findings contrary to the evidence. Moreover, authorities improperly faulted Craft for clinical failings by nurses and doctors, the suit said.

Zoo seeks funds to repair storm damages

Fallen trees have shuttered Roanoke’s Mill Mountain Zoo for the last 12 days.

The nonprofit zoo has now turned to a GoFundMe fundraiser to help recover from the damage. As of Tuesday evening, the zoo had raised about $12,200 out of a $20,000 goal.

The zoo has been closed since Feb. 13, when a winter storm brought snow, ice and downed trees. 

“Our dedicated team has been working tirelessly to ensure the well-being of our animals while also managing storm cleanup,” the zoo said on its website.

Photos showed trees fallen on its bald eagle and black bear enclosures. Critically endangered red wolves were relocated because their shelter was compromised by the damage.

The zoo said the fundraiser income will help the nonprofit “overcome a lofty insurance deductible and the loss of vital admissions revenue.” 

Mill Mountain Spur, the road that leads up to the Mill Mountain Star, has remained closed since Feb 13. A city spokeswoman said Tuesday that staff anticipate reopening the road Wednesday.