Schools
Roanoke schools news — RCPS first; county and colleges when they build or borrow in public.
Roanoke City Public Schools dismissed Garden City Elementary at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday because of a water main break near Yellow Mountain Road, WDBJ reports. Students get lunch before they leave. The division says it expects the school to reopen Thursday, pending an update from the Western Virginia Water Authority, and will contact families again Wednesday evening.
Virginia Tech's presidential search committee will interview candidates within the next 15 days, chair Nancy Dye said Friday in a brief virtual meeting, Cardinal News reports. Location, schedule, and who will sit for interviews were not released. State law lets boards close those sessions if they are announced publicly and held within 15 days. President Tim Sands plans to leave after a successor is named; a six-member subcommittee leads early interviews, with the fuller committee weighing finalists later.
Roanoke City Public Schools finalized 148 eliminated positions after spring talk of about 170 cuts to balance a $14 million FY2027 deficit, Cardinal News reports. Sixty-four were teaching jobs across all 24 schools; 66 of the eliminated roles were filled when cut, and 13 of those people had been recalled into other vacancies as of Aug. 20.
Ethan Grunkemeyer, a Penn State transfer who followed James Franklin to Blacksburg, will start at quarterback Saturday against VMI, WDBJ reports. Franklin told reporters Monday he is preparing the Hokies for VMI's triple option and wants fans in early, through Enter Sandman, and staying all four quarters. Virginia Tech is coming off a 3-9 2025 season.
Local artist Nicole Gray finished a 60-foot Blue Ridge mural on the north side of Ayres Hall at College Avenue and Clay Street, Roanoke College says. It is her first solo mural, from a concept by college designer James France, and it was done Aug. 17 before students came back. The college says it is the second large campus work after Jon Murrill's 2025 hawk mural at Maroon Village.
Salem beat E.C. Glass 35-17 on Friday after giving up a touchdown on the opening kickoff. WSLS says Jordan McCadden scored in the third and again in the fourth, and Jayden Wood intercepted a tipped pass to close it. Coach Don Holter called it more grit than polish.
William Byrd beat Cave Spring 20-14 on Friday at Bogle Stadium. WSLS says the teams were tied 6-6 at half; Cave Spring went up 14-6 before the Terriers answered, then Gray Matthews broke a 96-yard run for the lead. County rivalry, Week 1, already loud.
Virginia's biennial budget funds a new building for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and renovations to the current space for the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. Virginia Business reports $13 million over two years for enrollment growth and in-state tuition support, enough to take the school from 222 students toward about 400, plus $14 million for the Virginia Tech Patient Research Center. Another $250,000 goes to study a regional biomedical high school.
Virginia Tech cut the ribbon Friday on a Counter-UAS Testing and Research Center at Kentland Farm in Blacksburg. WSLS reports Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Morgan Griffith, and President Tim Sands were there; the National Security Institute and Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership will test sensors that detect, track, and identify small drones, with the U.S. Army as a partner. Students start using the outdoor site this semester.
Virginia Tech opens James Franklin's tenure Sept. 5 in Blacksburg against VMI, a series WFIR says last met 42 years ago and dates to 1894. The last Roanoke date was Thanksgiving 1971 at Victory Stadium, when the Governor's Sword was the trophy. VMI is bringing cadets; Tech's Corps still has the sword.
Parents pressed the Virginia Board of Education on Thursday for stricter classroom screen limits. Cardinal News reports Roanoke County’s new superintendent, Jamie Soltis, has asked staff to audit the laptop program and cut device time in kindergarten through second grade. A Roanoke-area mom on the state’s Reclaiming Childhood Task Force is also pushing for paper SOL options.
With Friday lights coming, RCPS is restating stadium rules: clear bags only, no outside food or drinks, no re-entry on ticketed games, and elementary and middle school students with an adult. WDBJ reports district leaders also asking fans to cheer hard without fouling referees, coaches, or the other side — and that discourteous fans can be asked to leave. Official clear-bag details are on the county schools site.
After scrapping a larger Student Life Village, Virginia Tech's Board of Visitors on Wednesday approved new dorms for about 1,200 beds near the Inn at Virginia Tech and phased renovations of Campbell, Hoge, Pritchard, and Slusher halls. Cardinal News reports the package tops $400 million, with Slusher no longer getting extra beds after a foundation-load snag. Blacksburg's mayor backed more on-campus beds as enrollment pressure hits town housing.
The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors approved a $15,000-a-year cut in the in-state tuition rate at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke — 23.4 percent below the nonresident rate — starting this fall. The university says $6.5 million a year in new state operating money is what makes a resident rate possible. The school wants about half of each class to be Virginians.
Roanoke City Public Schools says a Round Hill Elementary kindergartner who is listed as a car rider got on a bus Aug. 20 and was dropped at Westwind Apartments. The Roanoke Rambler reports the leasing office called the school about 17 minutes after the drop-off; the district says it investigated, is taking personnel action, and is working with contractor Zum on boarding procedures. We are not naming the child.
The Roanoke Rambler reports a spring Canvas attack attributed to ShinyHunters hit Roanoke City and Roanoke County schools, exposing names, emails, student IDs, and message histories. RCPS told the School Board this week it has layered email filters, endpoint software, and an audit of cameras and other devices on the network. Virginia Western's cybersecurity center says most of the holes still start with people, not magic.
Roanoke school leaders spent the week on the budget again after a reduced state allocation. Cardinal News has the Field Notes from the board table — the unglamorous math that still decides bus routes and classroom aides.
Roanoke County Public Schools' new superintendent laid out a start-of-year vision as classes opened. Cardinal News sat down with Jamie Soltis. We will measure it against the first budget, not the first quote.
The Board of Visitors is discussing a university loan of more than $15 million to Hokie Ventures, a nonprofit tied to athletics. WDBJ reports the Athletics Committee took it up in Blacksburg this week; the Hokie Ventures board meets in September.
