Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 25, 1994 TAG: 9406280087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The average salary for county school employees is nearly $1,900 below the national average of $35,980. The figures include salaries of teachers, principals, instructional supervisors and nonprofessional workers such as secretaries and receptionists.
Raising the teachers' salaries to the national average would cost $2.2 million per year, according to Jerry Hardy, director of budget and data management for schools. Raising the pay for the other school employees would cost $800,000.
Supervisor Bob Johnson recently asked for a report comparing county school employees' salaries with national figures. Johnson said he was concerned that teachers' salaries are below the national average.
Johnson said the School Board should not forget the financial plight of teachers.
As the county renovates buildings and builds new schools, he said, teachers' salaries should be raised to keep pace with the national average.
"I know it can't be done in one year, but I would hope that we could bring the salaries up to the national average over a period of several years," Johnson said.
The county's school salaries are nearly $1,000 per year higher than the state average.
No figures immediately were available for Roanoke and Salem, because they haven't made such a calculation. But Salem's teacher salaries are the highest in the Roanoke Valley. The average salary for teachers in Roanoke is lower than in Roanoke County.
Meanwhile, Johnson said he still had concerns about the School Board's proposal to spend $5 million on additions and renovations to Cave Spring High and Cave Spring Junior High schools even though a new high school will be needed in eight to 10 years.
The supervisors have asked the School Board for financial projections on the impact of selling bonds now to build a new school. The supervisors will receive the information next week.
Frank Thomas, chairman of the School Board, said this week that a $20 million bond issue for a new Cave Spring High School and a new gymnasium for Northside High School would add $1.7 million a year to the county's bond debt payments. He said the School Board would like to have the new high school as soon as possible, but that would depend on whether the supervisors can handle more bonded debt.
"I don't want to waste taxpayers' money [by renovating buildings that would be replaced by a new school]," Johnson said. The taxpayers should be given the opportunity to vote on a bond issue for the schools, he said.
If the School Board's plan to renovate the existing buildings is followed, he said, the voters won't have a chance to vote on it. If voters are allowed to decide the issue, they can decide whether they are willing to pay higher taxes, he said.
Johnson said he didn't want to tell the School Board what to do, but he will be hard pressed to support plans for spending money to renovate the existing Cave Spring High and Cave Spring Junior High schools.
by CNB