ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605100103
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
SO FAR, A MAJORITY of Roanoke County supervisors oppose funding several school proposals a month after voters rejected building a new Cave Spring High.
Funds to install air conditioning at Cave Spring Junior High School and finish the Northside Middle School gymnasium are in jeopardy because of the fallout from the defeat of Roanoke County's school bond issue last month.
The Board of Supervisors might also refuse to provide money for new furniture and equipment for the Glenvar Middle School that is scheduled to open this fall.
If a vote were taken today on providing $5.6 million for the three projects, the sharply divided supervisors would refuse the money by 3-2, Supervisor Harry Nickens says.
But Nickens said that could change by Tuesday, when the supervisors will vote on the School Board's request for money for the projects.
Nickens, who opposes funding the projects until a study of all the county's school needs is finished, said Thursday night that some supervisors' votes are "soft" and could change by next week.
Supervisors Bob Chairman Bob Johnson, who supports the funds, said he expects intense lobbying during the next few days.
Parents in Southwest County, upset about the defeat of the referendum for a new Cave Spring High School, have told the supervisors that it would be unfair to fund any project that was included in the $37.4 million bond issue without funding them all.
They want work on all school projects halted until a study of all county needs has been finished and the projects have been ranked in priority. That study won't be finished until early next year.
The referendum included $2.8 million to finish the Northside gym and $1 million for equipment and renovations at the Glenvar middle and high schools. The gym is being built at Northside Middle so students there can use it for physical education, but it would also be used for Northside High's basketball games.
The School Board has asked the supervisors for the Northside gym money, $300,000 for equipment at Glenvar and $2.5 million for air conditioning at Cave Spring Junior High.
Several Glenvar parents told the School Board Thursday night they want the county to provide at least $600,000 for the Glenvar equipment.
Architects for the Northside project told the supervisors that the cost will increase by $330,850 if it is delayed for nine months while a study of school needs is made.
The supervisors met jointly with the School Board to discuss the school projects and the school budget for next year.
They worked out an agreement that will provide several hundred thousand additional dollars for the budget so that teachers and other school employees will receive average pay raises of about 5 percent next year, the same as other county employees will get.
The budget plan includes a proposed increase in the county's business professional and occupational license tax that will generate about $460,000. Several other adjustments will be made in the budget, including the deferral of debt repayments on some projects, to free up more money for pay raises.
Before Thursday's night meeting, school officials had reduced the pay raise for teachers and other school employees to 3.5 percent because the budget was out of balance by more than $1 million.
But several supervisors said they wanted school employees to get raises comparable to other county employees'. Johnson suggested that school officials cut the budget in other areas to provide the money.
Johnson and Nickens accused school officials of trying to pressure the supervisors into providing more money by proposing smaller raises.
School Board Chairman Jerry Canada denied that school officials were playing politics or using a hidden strategy.
"I am not a politician. In no way did I intend to pull a slick political move. It was a common-sense move," Canada said. "It came from the heart. This still does not meet all of our needs."
Nickens, a former chairman of the School Board, said the strategy worked, but he sharply criticized school officials, saying they are "still living beyond their means" in using funds left from the previous year to balance the budget.
Johnson also complained about $7 million in cost overruns on 10 school projects in recent years. If that happened in county government, he said, Administrator Elmer Hodge would be fired.
Because of the defeat of the school bond issue and the divisive mood among voters, Johnson said, the county is at a crossroads. "Our citizens are wondering where we are headed," he said, adding that the supervisors plan to hold a retreat soon to discuss the future direction of county government. Schools will be a critical element in that planning process, he said.
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