Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 18, 1995 TAG: 9503200018
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
"We go out on the marching field with tape on our instruments," Nunn said, as three band members showed their battered brass horns to council and a packed gallery.
At Thursday's session, council heard formal budget presentations from the city's schools, the Library Board, the Welfare and Social Services Board, the Recreation Commission, the Free Clinic of the New River Valley and other entities in line for city funds.
The Band Boosters' $33,000 request - part of the School Board's 1995-96 budget - includes $5,000 for new instruments and maintenance, plus another $7,000 for uniforms, music and computer software, hardware and recording equipment.
"It's nothing frivolous," Nunn told council, emphasizing that music programs were not extra-curricular but regular classes.
"We don't think students should be out in the street selling fruit to buy a tuba," he said.
The boosters also asked for $6,000 for marching band coaches and $15,000 for a part-time assistant band director, so the schools can expand the band program to fourth- and fifth-graders.
"Our requests are all instruction-related," Nunn said. "We're not asking for frills."
Senior band member Amy Chung also spoke on her fellow musicians' behalf. "We all value our band experience," she said, adding that band members learn cooperation and discipline as well as musicianship.
But it was discussion of the school division's overall budget that dominated the gathering. The schools are seeking $1.8 million more from the city next year than they got this year, but much of that includes requests for new classrooms and equipment.
The projected $10.2 million budget also includes money for salary increases averaging 3.9 percent, Superintendent Michael Wright explained.
School Board Chairman Guy Gentry suggested that good schools and a healthy local economy go hand-in-hand. "We view our school system and this budget as an economic development issue," he told council. Gentry said the schools are a major attraction for the city and the reason many people chose to live in Radford.
Gentry and Wright pointed to the 172 tuition students enrolled in Radford schools this year as evidence of the school system's quality. Outside students pay $100 a year to attend city schools, but the city gets approximately $2,000 apiece in additional state aid, Wright said. He projected 1,480 students would be in Radford classrooms this fall.
Councilwoman Polly Corn questioned several line items in the school budget, including additional money for office help, which she called "entirely excessive," and the amount set aside for special education.
Both school officials defended the effectiveness of the city's special education programs, though Wright said the nature of the individualized instruction makes it very difficult to prove it statistically with standardized test scores. "I think it's working," he said, adding that administrators and parents also are satisfied. "We take those students as far as we can take them."
School officials also stood firmly behind a request for some $600,000 to buy new computers and other instructional technology. Technology coordinator Bruce Criswell said a new electronic classroom would let the schools expand their curriculum.
City Council also heard a supplemental request from the Library Board, which wants to up wages for part-time library workers to attract and retain skilled people. The board also asked for another $630 for computer equipment to help the library to "become the information center for the city," as board chairman Fletcher Carter put it.
Welfare and Social Services Superintendent Suzanne Glass said the city's food-stamp caseload has risen dramatically, almost doubling since 1991, in part because of relaxed income guidelines affecting students. Corn asked Glass to supply council with the number of students getting food stamps. "I think that would be very helpful for us to furnish to our legislators," she said.
Mayor Tom Starnes and some council members already have conceded taxes will likely go up this year, and Gentry pledged to support any tax increases needed to make ends meet. Council voted unanimously Thursday to advertise a 10-cent increase in the real estate tax rate, but the actual figure could be less than that.
The city's projected 1995-96 budget still contains a more than $2 million gap between projected revenues and expenditures. Council resumes work on the budget Monday at 7 p.m.
by CNB