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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 26, 1994                   TAG: 9410270032
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOL BOARD TALKS WITH LEGISLATORS

State legislators told the Montgomery County School Board not to count on a local tax increase to benefit schools for the upcoming year. 1995 will be a big election year, they said, and no politician is willing to soil his or her record by voting for a tax increase.

However, they did say the School Board should rest assured that most state mandates - for construction, technology and primary education - will be funded. The only exception, one delegate said, could be school nurses.

"I don't think education has anything to worry about," Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said at a School Board dinner held Monday night. "But unless the economy has grown so in Virginia that we have money floating around, I don't know that we'll have a big increase in funding."

Del. Jim Shuler, D-Blacksburg, said he foresees an unusually fierce battle for money in next year's General Assembly session.

"The general sense is that we do need to be more on the educational side, but it will be a real tug-of-war for that money," Shuler said. "And I'm here to tell you riverboat gambling is going to come up again and to make it sweeter for acceptance, those people who are for [riverboat gambling] will try to give it an education initiative."

School Board members urged their representatives to fund construction and repairs on overcrowded and outdated schools.

"We're growing everywhere, not just in Blacksburg and Christiansburg," Schools Superintendent Herman Bartlett said. "We're now faced with building all over the county and we'd like some assistance."

Griffith agreed, but added, "unfortunately, this same problem exists in most counties and this is not a unique situation."

State Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, suggested the county apply for a Literary Loan, but Bartlett said there already is a waiting list and many of the schools need improvements now.

As a way to fund those projects, Bartlett suggested a 1 cent tax be levied in Montgomery County to go directly to schools.

"Is it possible that the localities would have that right?" he asked.

"No penny sales tax will pass because the House is running and the Senate is running [in 1995] and no one will vote for that," Marye said.

Griffith warned board members that funding may not be available for school nurses because the state already distributes money the General Assembly says should be used for health services. However, Bartlett says that money, part of a basic aid package that can be used where the schools need it most, is used to help cover teachers' salaries.

If the state would fund more of the schools' needs, Bartlett said, "we would agree on having nurses."

Lastly, board member Lou Herrmann and Chairman Roy Vickers asked about the state's role in promoting technology in schools.

"Whether we know what technology means or not, we all know it is the key to the future," Herrmann said. "I'm just wondering what you all plan to do about it."

Shuler said there will be some changes on the state level, but was vague as to what those changes might be. On the federal level, Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon has said he wants to see the state pitch in on the cost of installing fiber-optic networks that would improve technology in all schools.

by CNB