Botetourt County asked Dr. John Russ, Superintendent of Botetourt County Schools this question regarding the proposed 240 apartment units at the current Howard Johnson location. He reviewed the application and provided the following comments:
"The major impact any new development will have on our school division is that of additional students. This is not to imply this is a "negative" impact. We are in the business of educating our county's children, and we welcome all students into our buildings. Over the past several years, we have seen a minimal decline in our Average Daily Membership(ADM), which does impact our funding from the state. Additional ADM would not be viewed as a bad thing. If new development does impact a specific school and places that school at over-capacity, we are at a point where we could look at adjusting attendance lines to address this issue. The location of this proposed development does not add safety or traffic concerns for any of our existing schools." - Dr. John Russ, BCPS School Superintendent