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

DATE: THURSDAY, August 25, 1994                   TAG: 9410010024
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TEXTBOOKS TO BE FREE THIS YEAR

Yes, there will be free textbooks for all of Virginia schoolchildren this year. But there is no guarantee the students will reap the financial windfall.

Children and parents in the Roanoke Valley and surrounding counties will save between $11 and $35 a year in rental fees for textbooks.

Free textbooks have been discussed intermittently for more than two decades, but the General Assembly only approved the funds for free textbooks this year.

The legislature included $50 million in the budget for the next two years as the state's share of the cost. The state will pay between 20 percent and 80 percent of the cost of the books, depending on the wealth and financial capability of the localities, according to the state Department of Education. Localities will be required to pay the local share of the cost.

Until now, localities have been free to charge whatever fee they desired.

The rental fees have varied. Roanoke's has been $14 a year; Roanoke County, $11 to $23, depending on the grade level; Salem, $16 to $22; Botetourt County, $30 to $35; Bedford County, $35; and Franklin County, $15 to $18.

Some large and wealthy school divisions, such as Fairfax County, have been providing free textbooks for several years but many school divisions have said they couldn't afford it.