CHRISTIANSBURG -- While lawyers finish looking over a contract to allow demolition of Blacksburg High School's gym, some parents are growing impatient with the pace of the cleanup.

It should take about 2 ¹₂ weeks to sort through and then remove the rubble left by the Feb. 13 collapse of the gym roof, Assistant Superintendent of Operations Walt Shannon said.

Shannon oversees the division's facilities.

Lawyers with Interstate Restoration, the firm hired to haul away the debris, still are reviewing the contract, Shannon said. Each of the parties involved -- the school system, Interstate Restoration and county insurer the Virginia Association of Counties -- all need to approve the contract before proceeding. Last week, a draft of the deal had the cost at $209,000 for the initial demolition.

At Tuesday night's meeting of the Montgomery County School Board, Shannon said the process won't be as swift as some residents have indicated they'd prefer.

"If I could figure out how to make attorneys move faster, I would," he said.

Moreover, he said, if the school board does not follow appropriate protocol with its insurer, VACO, the district could be left footing the cleanup bills. That's something the cash-strapped county cannot afford.

Parents continue to ask the school board for improved communication and speedier decisions -- and Shannon said he now plans to give weekly updates on the situation. They say the aftermath of the roof collapse hasn't been treated like a crisis, even though it has forced high school students into evening classes at Blacksburg Middle School, disrupted schedules and sports and increased traffic along Prices Fork Road.

"We can tolerate it if we can see a light at the end of the tunnel," said Randall Burch, a parent to a BHS sophomore. "Let's get the ball rolling and let's get this thing going." Shannon said the process to assess the damage and determine a cause is moving as quickly as possible.

Once a contract is complete, crews from Interstate Restoration, which VACO hired, will request a demolition permit from town of Blacksburg. Building official Cathy Cook already has waived the Environmental Protection Agency's 10-day waiting period for such a permit.

While demolition takes place, structural and forensic engineers will try to determine a cause for the collapse and examine the rest of the building for safety. Some of the safety inspectors will be from Blacksburg firm OWPR, which the school district hired.

No one knows how long finding a cause could take. But without it, the building cannot be occupied because "you have structures that exist in the rest of the building that are of similar construction of what's in the gym," Shannon said.

Superintendent Brenda Blackburn said the district will try harder to update the community on the happenings surrounding the school. Already, a scrolling Frequently Asked Questions link is on the division's Web site at www.mcps.org. It's updated weekly, as new information is available.

"We don't have all the answers," she said.

Blackburn said she'd also use that site to dispel rumors about the building.

CALENDAR

Early-release days remain in question

For Blacksburg students, the remaining elementary school early-release days -- April 21 and May 28 -- may be canceled, but first the school board wants to get teacher and staff input.

The May 10 early-release, scheduled to give teachers planning time, has already been canceled in Blacksburg only because buses would not have been able to pick up elementary school students at 1 p.m. and also Blacksburg High School students within the same hour.

On Tuesday, Blackburn recommended that the board cancel the upcoming early releases for Blacksburg students because of the same transportation troubles. She suggested releasing students in the Blacksburg strand two hours sooner than the already slated two-hour early releases on April 26 and June 10 to allow for the planning time.

June 10 is the last day of school.

Board members said they worried about nixing the much-needed collaboration time for teachers, who already have less planning time built into the academic calendar next year.

"I think I need information from the teachers about how this is working for them," board member Penny Franklin said.

Lois Graham, the director of elementary education, said principals have promised to lessen teachers' duties to give them more time to work together, but board members were skeptical.

No one in the district's administration has looked at staggering the early-release days or making Blacksburg's planning day separate from the rest of the county.

Board member Jamie Bond suggested that administrators examine that route. Blacksburg has 32 bus routes, said transportation director Rebecca Mummau.

"That means 32 people have got to come to work on that given day and a lot of them have extra jobs," she said.

She said she'd survey drivers to see who might interested in that option.

The board meets again April 6 to discuss to the early releases.

INSTRUCTION

County solicits waiver of credit requirements

The school board approved a request Tuesday night to ask the Virginia Department of Education to waive the 5 ¹₂-hour school day requirement for Blacksburg High School this academic year. Under the new schedule, students have a five-hour-and-15-minute day.

The board also approved a policy, allowable under Virginia Board of Education regulations, that says students can earn class credits this year for courses with fewer than 140 hours of instruction. The policy says teachers will need to provide instruction comparable to 140 hours.

That was needed because of the 16 days BHS students missed because of winter weather and the roof collapse.

The Pulaski County School Board approved the same policy Monday because of snow days.