ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 25, 1996 TAG: 9601250017
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
The Montgomery County School Board stamped its final approval on next year's budget Tuesday night after adding two last-minute items: a salary increase for its members and funding for an additional teacher.
The group of angry Auburn parents that turned out at Tuesday's public hearing almost certainly influenced the board to include the additional teacher and corresponding mobile classroom to the proposed 27.4 teachers and six mobile units already approved.
Last week, as the board prepared for Tuesday's public hearing at Christiansburg High School, Barry Worth requested funding for the teacher and mobile unit at Auburn Middle School. Most members would not support the addition because they said designating specific positions would undermine the superintendent's judgement.
But Tuesday night, parent after parent stood to tell the board how an Auburn High School geometry teacher must "switch gears" in the middle of the day to teach several periods of middle school math.
"Ours should not be the only school who must borrow a teacher from the high school each day to teach a core subject," said parent Glenda Thomas.
Thomas and others said the middle school needs another teacher to implement the team-teaching method in the seventh grade. The other county middle schools - in Christiansburg, Blacksburg and Shawsville - already have team teaching, where two teachers share the teaching load for a group of kids in grades 6 through 8. The concept, to provide middle schoolers with an easy transition from one teacher in elementary school to six or so in high school, is so far available only to Auburn sixth graders.
"I continue waiting for our four strands of enrollment in the county to be given the same consideration with regard to resources, programs," Thomas said.
Assistant Superintendent Jim Sellers told the board later that team teaching in Auburn's seventh grade is planned for next year.
Usually, he said, teacher assignments are based first on pupil-teacher ratios rather than on a need for team teachers. Auburn Middle has ratios of about 20 to 1; the ratios in Blacksburg middle school hover around 25 to 1.
The School Board finally agreed to add $69,200 to the budget for another teacher and mobile unit. Members did not specify where that position should go.
During a work session following the hearing, Worth suggested adding $18,167 to the budget to double the board's salaries. In March, Gov. George Allen signed a bill increasing school board salaries to $3,600. Individual school boards must approve that increase and the Board of Supervisors must agree to fund it.
"We're the only ones who can do it," said member David Moore. "And there'll never be a good time for it."
The last time the board received a raise - from $1,200 to the current $1,800 - was in 1985.
The original vote on the budget was 6 to 2, because Bernie Jortner and Wat Hopkins opposed the salary increase. Later, they changed their votes to give the budget unanimous support. "But I want the record to show that I hate that pay increase proposal!" Jortner said.
Many of the speakers during the public address portion of the meeting reminded the board of the need to increase teachers' salaries, no matter how severely the budget is cut.
The budget will be presented to the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 12.
Fully aware of the difficult task ahead, board members offered suggestions to gain public - and supervisor - support for a budget that increases spending by 12 percent. Members said they planned to talk with PTAs and bring supporters to the Feb. 12 meeting.
Board member Jim Klagge even said he planned to use left over money from his campaign to take out an advertisement to let his constituents know about the budget.
"Well, I for one plan to go to the stockyards to talk with my supervisor," joked Mary Beth Dunkenberger, refering to supervisor and farmer Joe Stewart. "So, if anyone has an extra cow I could borrow ... "
LENGTH: Medium: 76 linesby CNB