Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 6, 1991 TAG: 9102060412
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The nine-member board voted unanimously to kill the idea after hearing the results of a mail survey of Montgomery County residents.
A solid majority of those who responded said they opposed pursuing year-round education any further or implementing it at any level of the school system.
"I guess the public has spoken; they don't want to be on the cutting edge of something," said Chairman Marty Childress of Shawsville.
With less harmony, the board gave final approval to its $38.95 million budget for the 1991-92 school year. The budget, which contains no employee raises, passed 7-2 and now goes to the Board of Supervisors.
The budget will require $18.2 million in county funds, an increase in county money of $198,169 over this year's budget. Because of state funding cuts, however, the total budget is $427,698 less than this year's and roughly $2.3 million less than what the school system says it really needs.
On the issue of year-round schools, Deborah Strickland, deputy director of the Virginia Tech Center for Survey Research, told the board that a whopping 72 percent of the survey respondents said they opposed the idea if it meant they would have to pay more taxes to support it.
"This should be put to a vote next November, if the School Board is stupid enough to continue consideration of this idiotic idea," was the fairly typical observation of one person who answered the survey.
Of 1,500 county residents randomly chosen from the personal property tax rolls and mailed survey forms, 598 responded. Seventy-seven percent of those people were from either Blacksburg or Christiansburg.
School Board member Daniel Schneck of Christiansburg questioned whether the survey was valid, since 71 percent of the respondents had no children currently enrolled in the county schools. Still, Schneck said, he didn't think year-round education "is all it's cracked up to be."
The board spent more than $8,000 studying the idea. Superintendent Harold Dodge said he was offering the board's research to the Roanoke school system, which also has begun studying the year-round concept.
In approving next year's budget, the board rejected attempts to include a step raise in the salary scale for school employees and to restore two central office jobs. The administrators whose jobs had been cut from the budget had been given support at last Thursday night's public hearing.
Schneck said he would like to see restored the job of coordinator for educational partnerships between the county schools and local businesses. Board member Don Lacy suggested that the schools instead ask businesses to pay the salary if the program is proving valuable to them.
Board member Michael Sowder of Christiansburg tried to get the step raise included in the budget, which would have increased it by $800,000, but the board refused 6-3.
Instead, the board will send a supplement to its budget request to the supervisors, asking them to consider raises for school employees of from 1 percent to 4 percent. A 1 percent raise would cost the county an additional $324,397 and a 4 percent raise would cost $1.3 million.
In other action, the board:
Approved on first reading an eight-week leave without pay for full-time employees who request time off for a "bonding" period with a newborn or newly adopted child. The employees would continued to receive fringe benefits during the leave.
Was told by Dodge that a program with Radford University - in which county high schools and Radford teachers exchange curriculum and other information - is moving along well. The idea behind the program is to help the high schools better prepare students for college courses.
Recognized Feb. 10-16 as Vocational Education Week and honored Sherry Akers of Auburn High School, Stephen Lewis of Blacksburg High School, Jennifer Walls of Christiansburg High School and Michael Wells of Shawsville High School as seniors of the month.
by CNB