Roanoke City Council members responded positively Tuesday to an early proposal to establish a magnet high school at the city’s Jefferson Center as a way to alleviate crowding at its two high schools.
Opening a magnet school at the performing arts center — which started its life as a segregated high school a century ago — was one of three options that the Roanoke City School Board presented during a joint meeting with the city council.
Both of the city’s high schools, William Fleming and Patrick Henry, are at about 120% of capacity, and a feasibility study indicates there’s no quick fix on the horizon.
The options include building a third comprehensive high school, adding onto the existing schools, or establishing a magnet school that offers specialized education programs, according to the results of a feasibility study by Spectrum Design, which the school board received in late August.
At a school board meeting on Aug. 13 on the findings, Chris Venable, principal of Spectrum Design, said crowding at the high schools turned out to be more severe than initially thought.