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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 8, 1995                   TAG: 9502080046
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Medium

PULASKI COUNTY SCHOOLS WILL STICK WITH PLANS FOR THIRD-GRADE CHANGES

The initiative began this year, with smaller classes in the lower grades and built-in measures to make sure students master each level of a critical skill before moving on to the next.

County officials still don't know how much money their schools will get next year from the state, which provides the bulk of the education budget. But officials are sticking to their original plan to add the third grade to their Critical Years/Critical Skills program in the fall.

Third-grade teachers attended a meeting on the program last month, and asked teachers from kindergarten through second grade about their experiences with the program. The county School Board will hear a report on the planned program at its meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The board will also hear about restructuring the middle school program.

Teachers from the Pulaski and Dublin Middle Schools along with administrators, guidance counselors and support personnel were named to a 24-member restructuring committee, which will draw up a proposal on middle school curriculum restructuring. The proposal will be submitted to Superintendent Bill Asbury.

The plan is based on recent research into teaching and learning, the county's own plan for systemic change, and its quality schools model.

Asbury is scheduled to submit a first draft of a proposed 1995-96 school budget to the board. The draft will then go to various advisory groups such as faculties, parents and the Pulaski County Education Association before the School Board gets a final draft in March and passes the budget on the the Board of Supervisors for approval.