Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 19, 1994 TAG: 9402190091
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The higher the percentage of children receiving subsidized meals, the more money a school system would receive if the General Assembly approves the disparity plan.
The percentage of free lunches is the main reason for the wide difference in funds the localities would receive; enrollment is a secondary factor.
Free lunches are considered to be an index of poverty and the number of at-risk children in both core cities and rural counties.
The $103 million disparity plan provides state funds to hire more teachers so classes would be smaller for children in kindergarten through third grade.
With smaller classes, educators say, teachers can give more attention to at-risk children from low-income families.
Consider Roanoke and Roanoke County. In some respects, they have comparable school systems.
The city's enrollment is 12,800; the county's is 13,570.
Yet Roanoke would receive $2.4 million in the next two years - the largest amount in Western Virginia - as its share of the disparity funds.
Roanoke County would receive $327,376.
In Roanoke, at least 25 percent of the students in 20 of the city's 21 elementary schools qualify for subsidized meals.
In 10 city schools, the ratio is between 25 percent and 49 percent. In 10 schools, the percentage is more than 50 percent.
By comparison, in only one of 17 Roanoke County elementary schools do more than 25 percent of the students qualify for free lunches.
The disparity plan would fund a student-teacher ratio of 18-to-1 in schools where more than 50 percent of students are eligible for free lunches. Where the free-lunch student population is between 25 percent and 49 percent, the student-teacher ratio would be 20-to-1.
In Salem, the comparison is even more dramatic. None of Salem's four elementary schools has a free-lunch percentage of more than 25 percent.
Salem, which has 3,750 students, would receive only $48,046 in disparity money in the next two years - the smallest amount in Western Virginia. These funds would be earmarked for preschool programs for at-risk 4-year-olds and grants for educational technology.
Roanoke and Roanoke County also would receive money to expand programs for 4-year-olds and for technology grants. These funds are included in their overall allocations.
The disparity plan, which has been approved by the House of Delegates, would distribute money statewide, but rural and urban school systems would receive more per pupil than wealthier, suburban school districts.
Roanoke Superintendent Wayne Harris said Friday it appears the city would benefit substantially from the disparity plan, but it's premature to estimate the city's net gain.
If the state were to reduce school funds in other categories, it could reduce the net benefit from the $2.4 million from the disparity plan, said Richard Kelley, Roanoke's assistant superintendent for operations.
"It will have a very positive effect, but I don't want to comment more until I know more of the details," Kelley said.
"It's going to allow us to do some things we are not doing now," Harris said.
After the details and amount of the funds are firmer, Harris will meet with Roanoke's elementary principals and other administrators to develop recommendations for the School Board on how the money will be spent.
Most of Roanoke County's money would be allocated for grants for educational technology. Superintendent Bayes Wilson said the funds will help, but he had hoped that the county would have received more.
"We admire them for making inroads on the equity issue, although other factors would have helped us more," said Frank Thomas, chairman of the Roanoke County School Board.
Salem Superintendent Wayne Tripp said he was disappointed that Salem would receive less than $50,000.
"It caught my attention that we would receive much less than others," Tripp said. He questioned whether the percentage of free lunches is the fairest way to distribute the money.
Botetourt County Superintendent Clarence McClure said he, too, wonders whether the number of free lunches should determine the disparity funding.
"We have some parents who are too proud to ask for free lunches for their children," McClure said, so financial need and poverty might not be measured accurately.
Botetourt would receive $157,929 in the next two years, mostly for technology grants for high and middle schools and programs for at-risk 4-year-olds.
Franklin County would receive $603,093, because it has seven elementary schools with more than 25 percent of the students receiving free lunches. Franklin's total also includes funds for programs for 4-year-olds and technology grants.
Superintendent Leonard Gereau said the funds will help, but he worries that the state might cut funds in other categories.
"As long as they don't play the shell game and move the money around, it will help end some of the disparity," Gereau said. But he said Franklin County still is shortchanged on transportation costs because of the states' funding formula.
Craig County will receive $161,977. Most of that is attributable to smaller classes in the only elementary school and programs for 4-year-olds.
Bedford County, which has seven schools with more than 25 percent of the students on free lunches, would receive $722,494.
Superintendent John Kent applauded the General Assembly's effort to end disparity.
"This should have a substantial impact, because this is the age group where children can be helped the most," Kent said.
The leader in the fight by rural counties and core cities to end educational disparity said Friday the proposed plan is "an important first step," but it's not enough to remedy all of the inequities.
"I commend the legislators, and I think it is a positive step," said Ken Walker, superintendent of schools in South Boston and Halifax County and chairman of the Coalition for Equity in Educational Funding.
The coalition has sued the state over the funding issue; the case is pending before the Virginia Supreme Court. Walker said it's too early to say what impact the disparity plan will have on the lawsuit.
"I am not in a position to say what may come of that. We need to make some bigger steps," he said.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.