Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 16, 1992 TAG: 9203160100
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
Franklin County, he says, needs to deal with disparities of its own.
Statistics compiled by the Virginia Education Association show:
Franklin County ranks near the top one-third of the state in terms of its ability to pay for education.
But the county ranks in the bottom one-third in its effort to pay for schools.
Gereau says the disparity between ability and effort is proof that the county's Board of Supervisors can do more to support education.
Gereau will ask the supervisors to do just that Tuesday when he presents the school system's proposed $30 million spending plan for 1992-93.
He will ask the supervisors to consider a 16 percent increase in the county's property tax rate to give teachers and other employees their first raise since the 1990-91 school year.
"We have to do something," Gereau said. "I have a major, major morale situation with staff."
But supervisors interviewed last week appear determined to hold the line on taxes because of the weakened economy.
"I sympathize with the teachers, but I have to sympathize with the people who are out of work," Blue Ridge Supervisor Hubert L. Quinn said.
Union Hall Supervisor Lois H. English, a former teacher and school administrator, agreed that this may not the year for the county to reach deeper into taxpayers' pockets.
"We don't have the money; people don't have the money," English said. "I think that school people have to be grateful that they have a job."
Even Boone Supervisor Homer Murray - a strong advocate of increased school funding - is taking a cautious approach this year.
"I'm going into it with an open mind, but I'm leaning toward no tax increase," Murray said. "In my 13 budgets, this would be the first time I haven't gone along with the school budget."
The School Board is asking for an extra $1.2 million in local funds this year to provide 6 percent raises for all employees and to help employees pay a 30 percent increase in health insurance premiums.
Gereau said that while the economy may be sluggish, statistics compiled by the VEA, a teachers organization, shows the county could do more to support schools.
The VEA study ranked Franklin County 45th out of 132 school divisions in ability to pay for education. Ability was based on the amount of taxable real estate divided by the number of children enrolled in the 1989-90 school year.
The VEA study also found that Franklin County ranked 94 out of 132 in local funds spent per child during the same school year.
Gereau noted that the county's property tax rate - 50 cents per every $100 in assessed value - is the second lowest in a 16-locality region.
Despite supervisors' reluctance, Gereau said he would make the case for raising taxes for education.
"Every year I've been here, they've told me it's a bad year," he said. "I wonder if we'll ever have a good year."
by CNB