Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990 TAG: 9003152511
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: PEARISB LENGTH: Medium
Rich Creek will be closed at the end of this school year and students transferred to Narrows Elementary School. King Johnston in Pearisburg will be closed at the end of the 1990-91 school year.
Robert McCracken, division superintendent, told the board the school system had lost 246 pupils since June 1988. The enrollment decline caused a reduction in the county's state basic aid package of approximately $500,000. Giles County receives $2,776 per student in basic aid.
The superintendent attributed the enrollment declines to people moving out of the area and to decreases in the live birth rate over the years.
The School Board's decision Wednesday night does not address the controversial proposal of consolidating Narrows and Giles high schools, a decision it postponed this past summer. After vocal opposition from parents and students, the School Board voted in June not to decide that issue until a 1991-92 state school census and after an administrative review.
Also under consideration at that time was a middle school for grades 6-8.
While the county is losing students and basic aid, the school system needs almost $900,000 to pay for mandated salary increases, asbestos removal plans, school bus replacements and repairs to two school roofs, McCracken said.
After approving the school closing, the board also approved submission of an $11.63 million 1990-91 school budget to the Board of Supervisors. The budget represents an overall 4.62 percent increase in funding, but the local share will stay the same at $3.9 million.
Students enrolled at Rich Creek Elementary will begin attending Narrows Elementary school this fall. King Johnston, which houses sixth and seventh graders, will remain open through the end of the 1990-91 school year for seventh-graders only.
The superintendent said that keeping the school open for seventh-graders was important to their self-esteem becausee they may not adjust well to being placed back in an elementary school system that was for K-5 pupils when they moved on to King Johnston. Sixth-grade pupils from nearby Macy McClaugherty that normally would transfer to King Johnston will stay at that school.
Closing the two schools will mean the elimination of four full-time teachers, two itinerant teachers and clerical and custodial staff. McCracken said those who lose their jobs won't necessarily be from the two schools that are closed. Teachers who are 55 years old and at the 21st step of the 1990-91 salary scale will be offered early retirement, he said.
McCracken said he had talked to employees whose jobs would be affected by the closings. Follow-up faculty meetings at individuals schools were planned for this morning.
by CNB