Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 27, 1990 TAG: 9003272125
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: SHARON HODGE SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: COLL LENGTH: Medium
School Board members and supervisors have been debating about two months the future of the school that has about 150 pupils. Recommendations have ranged from closing one to four schools, to expanding existing schools, to building a new centrally located school.
Ridgeway District Supervisor Francis Zehr, who proposed the school study, suggested hiring an outside professional firm with no preconceived ideas. That consultant would report its findings to a committee consisting of the county attorney and representatives from the supervisors and School Board, under the Zehr proposal.
Zehr also recommended that the committee be responsible for setting the parameters of the study, which the board ordered due in October.
Blackberry District Supervisor S.E. Moran asked that a portion of the study - focusing on the immediate closing of Samuel Hairston Elementary - be completed by April. The board rejected his request.
Chairman Robert Scott said it would be unrealistic to complete such an evaluation in 30 days.
School officials have said the school would be closed if the county does not fully fund the $37 million proposed budget for the next fiscal year. Vice Chairman Simon Spencer told parents attending Monday's meeting he would "fight for full funding" of the school budget.
The proposed 1990-91 school spending plan exceeds current expenditures by $2 million, and accounts for 66 percent of the total Henry County budget. Monday, County Administrator C. Lee Lintecum said "a significant tax increase will be required if we are to fund the proposed level of expenditures."
While the county budget is not complete, the working draft Lintecum presented Monday asks the board to consider a 12-cent real estate tax increase - from 54 cents to 66 cents per $100 of assessed value. That would levy an extra $72 on a $60,000 house.
Lintecum's budget recommendations also call for raising the price of automobile decals from $15 to $20, and enacting a recordation tax. According to Lintecum, Henry County could earn $65,000 through taxes on real estate transfers.
by CNB