Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503130033
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
That's because the school system has not even received a bill from its attorney yet, Superintendent Bill Asbury told the School Board Thursday night.
But that hasn't stopped what Asbury called ``ridiculous figures'' from circulating as people talk about last month's appeal by Pulaski County High School drama instructor Rhonda Welsh of her 10-day suspension, stemming from a dispute over doughnuts with a hotel employee last December. The board reduced the suspension to five days.
The argument happened on a drama field trip when the employee tried to restrict the students to one doughnut each.
Asbury said he would likely be able to report the legal fees at the board's next regular meeting.
Meanwhile, Walt Shannon, the board's business manager, said legal expenses have increased since the 1991-92 year, when the board budgeted $5,000 and spent $31,960. The board budgeted $30,000 in 1992-93 and spent $20,886. For both the 1993-94 year and the current year, it budgeted $43,000. Last year it spent $12,733.
Asbury said litigation in special education matters and due-process cases keeps legal costs high. ``One due-process can eat that entire $43,000. It depends how far you go in appeal.''
Also during the meeting Thursday, the board learned that the last day of school will be June 8, because of lost days for bad weather.
And Shannon briefed the board on plans in the 1995-96 budget, being prepared, to cut the number of step increases in teachers' salaries by half.
The present 28 steps would drop to 14, but Shannon assured the board that no teacher would lose money. In fact, he said, it would take an additional $624,300 to put the change into place based on current staffing and distribution of teachers.
The idea, which has not been presented to teachers yet, is to even out salary levels and make the process more coherent. ``Four or five years ago, what we had was spaghetti,'' Asbury said. ``It didn't make any sense.''
The number of teachers has stayed pretty much the same in recent years, but more are teaching in elementary grades because of smaller classes there.
Pupils in kindergarten through second grade classes are limited to 20, and the school system hopes to make it 19 next year while reducing third-grade classes to 20. The plan is to eventually lower class sizes to 15 pupils in the elementary grades to make sure they master the skills they will need in later grades.
The change is not only adding more teachers at elementary levels, but requiring more hard-to-find classrooms.
Operations Director Harry DeHaven said Claremont and Northwood Elementary Schools have no space left. Critzer, Newbern, Snowville and Dublin can still add modular units. Draper could renovate two rooms at less than the cost of a modular unit. Only Riverlawn still has space available.
The crunch raises the specter of having to change attendance lines, a major undertaking last done when Jefferson Elementary closed and its student numbers were distributed among other schools. Nobody who would be involved in that effort is looking forward to it.
by CNB