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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 26, 1993                   TAG: 9301260078
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

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'93-'94 BUDGET HEARING TONIGHT

The Montgomery County School Board will hold a public hearing on its proposed 1993-94 budget tonight at 7:30 in the Christiansburg High School Auditorium.

Last Thursday night, the School Board settled on three separate budgets to be presented to the public tonight. The board then plans to take all three - with any modifications resulting from the hearing - to county Board of Supervisors for consideration.

The School Board settled on what it called a "preferred" budget, which totals $48.14 million and is roughly 16 percent above the current year's $41.3 million budget.

This budget contains money for a number of educational initiatives proposed by school Superintendent Harold Dodge and board members, including money to cut the pupil-teacher ratio in some classes.

The board also developed what it calls its "essential" budget, which totals $44.5 million, 8 percent more than the current budget.

That budget would add 38.5 new teachers to the school system to keep up with an expected increase in student numbers next year and to reduce the student-teacher ratio in the lower grades.

Finally, the board agreed on what it calls its "minimum" budget of $42.9 million or 3.9 percent more than the current year's budget.

The board considers the minimum budget its answer to the supervisors' advice in December to prepare a budget containing the same funding as this year.

The minimum budget contains no raises for school employees. The essential budget contains a 2 percent across-the-board raise, and the preferred budget contains raises averaging 7.7 percent and puts county teachers back on an equalized salary scale.

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