Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 25, 1993 TAG: 9311250073
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV21 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Heading into the late stages of budget deliberations, the Radford School Board has received requests for more teachers, higher salaries, new programs and new facilities totaling more than $2 million.
Because each $30,000 incremental budget increase represents a 1-cent tax increase, granting all requests would boost the local rate from 63 cents to $1.27 per $100 assessed value.
Revenue projections indicate the school system will have only $82,000 to spend on new programs next year, said School Superintendent Michael Wright.
Any additional funds must be generated by other means - such as tax increases, he said.
The latest budget request for 1994-95 came Tuesday, as Norman Lineburg, Radford High School's athletic director, asked the School Board for $15,000 to supplement athletic programs.
This year's gate receipts from football games were down significantly, a trend expected to continue as Radford begins its new Group A athletic classification next year.
The new schedule won't include traditional rivals Christiansburg and Blacksburg, contests that Wright called "money games."
Football revenues, which pay the costs of other high school sports, need to be supplemented so athletes don't suffer and nonrevenue sports aren't placed in jeopardy, Lineburg said.
Also, Radford Education Association members, who have requested 5.75 percent salary and 1.25 percent step increases next year, may have to choose between the two.
Wright asked REA representative Ralph Arthur to poll members about which increase they prefer in case the board cannot grant both.
Board Member Carter Effler raised some eyebrows when he suggested eliminating the salary steps altogether in favor of consistent percentage salary increases.
"I don't think the teachers will go for it," Arthur said.
by CNB