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

DATE: THURSDAY, October 5, 1995                   TAG: 9510050035
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

MONTGOMERY SCHOOL WORKERS TO RECEIVE REMAINDER OF RAISE

Tuesday night, the School Board voted, 7-2, to give an 0.8 percent pay raise to all employees - including administrative staff - beginning in December.

In May, the board agreed on a 1.2 percent raise - with an additional 0.8 percent if at all possible - after an effort to provide higher raises failed. The entire 2 percent raise will now roll over to next year's budget as part of the permanent pay scale.

The administration and the School Board originally included a 4 percent increase in the 1995-96 budget submitted to the Board of Supervisors last winter. The supervisors cut the school budget by $1.89 million, forcing the School Board to rethink the raise in May.

Superintendent Herman Bartlett suggested a 2 percent raise, but the board opted for a 1.2 percent increase and funding for other priorities, such as a lower pupil-teacher ratio.

Tuesday, Bartlett said the schools project $272,059 in savings because beginning teachers, who earn less, have replaced some experienced teachers.

In January, the board used last year's surplus money for a one-time $370 bonus for employees.

Not committing to pay raises until surplus figures are in sets a dangerous precedent, said Annette Perkins, District A representative.

"I'm for giving them the money, but we should have done it last spring."

Dick Edwards agreed, saying the current practice denies teachers and other employees any sense of financial stability.

"To me, it smacks of pretty loose planning," he said. "We need to set the salary for professionals in this county and commit to that."

Bartlett defended the practice, saying that it was the board that requested a look at how to use any surplus funds.

"There's nothing funny about what's going on here. Next year, we could end up with a negative figure," he said.

District D representative Barry Worth and District B representative Bob Goncz voted against the increase.

In May, the School Board requested an additional $951,000 from the Board of Supervisors to cover the originally proposed 4 percent increase. Worth said the board should wait to hear whether the supervisors would approve the funds.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry Linkous said Wednesday the board was waiting to look at the request until the year-end financial figures are available.

But, he said, "it looks like right now, there's not going to be enough [money] there."

Last week, the supervisors agreed to restore $69,000 to the Montgomery County library to help fund an online computer system.

The School Board also discussed whether to renovate Blacksburg Middle School or build a new school farther from downtown.

The Board of Supervisors proposed expanding the existing middle school building, an option the School Board did not examine when it approved a five-year, $34 million plan to build four new schools.

The board decided to send the new proposal back to the Blacksburg area residents who participated in the original Facility-Use Space Study. Recommendations from that group will be considered at the board's Oct. 24 meeting.