Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 10, 1993 TAG: 9309100219
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
The potential loss in state money stems from another drop this year in the student population. The state pays slightly more than $3,500 per student in aid.
School officials had estimated the 1993-94 average daily enrollment at 5,200 and, as schools opened, it came out at 5,222.
That would seem to be good news, but Superintendent William Asbury said that number tends to diminish as the year progresses because of students moving, dropping out or leaving the system for other reasons.
And the average daily figure that counts in getting state aid is the one measured next spring, after those reductions are likely to have happened, he said.
"Those numbers generally get smaller," he told the board. "The closer we are to our estimate at the beginning, the more dangerous it looks."
Associate Superintendent Phyllis Bishop said the 1992-93 school year ended in June with 5,323 students. "We're down 100 students, which is about what we said we've been losing every year," she said.
Pulaski Middle School is down by about 40 students so far, she said. Dublin Elementary School has about 20 fewer than anticipated.
Since there might not be as much money available in the 1993-94 budget as expected, Asbury said, the School Board will need to look at possible spending cuts early in the school year.
Vice Chairman Nathan Tuck asked how many students the Pulaski County school system loses to Radford.
"There's quite a few. Estimates range as high as 100," Asbury said. "It's really difficult to nail that down."
He said Radford school officials have assured him they are not making an effort to persuade county families to enroll their children in city schools.
"And I do believe that," he said. "I don't sense competition. . . . What's happened has just happened. But I wish they'd come back home."
Asbury said Radford offers an advanced educational program, but there are also other reasons for Pulaski County residents going there. Some people on the eastern edge of the county simply live closer to Radford schools. And property values in the city are so much higher than some county residents who grew up in Radford or have family ties there cannot afford to live there, he said.
"There's a big difference between a lot in Radford and a lot in Pulaski," he said.
Tuck said there are about 21 students in the county who are in an at-home educational program, and so bring in no state money. If there are another 100 going to Radford, he said, that represents a loss to the county of more than $423,500.
by CNB