ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 25, 1996 TAG: 9606250095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Up to five Roanoke schools will get a $5,000 reward for improving student attendance, test scores and physical fitness while cutting the drop-out rate in the past year, the superintendent said Monday.
The schools appear to have met all of the goals that were set last summer to qualify for the money, which must be used to improve instruction, Superintendent Wayne Harris said.
He would not identify the goals until all the figures have been reviewed, but Harris told the School Board that "between three and five schools are in the running" for the money.
To qualify, school officials had to show:
A 4 percent increase in the number of students scoring above the 50th percentile on standardized tests;
A cut in chronic absences by showing a 10 percent increase in the number of students who miss 10 or fewer days;
A 7 percent increase in the number of students passing state-mandated fitness tests; and
A 1 percent reduction in drop-out rates, for middle and high schools only.
Harris offered the reward as part of a three-year plan to improve academic achievement and reduce absenteeism.
Harris also told the School Board that there was a 1 percent drop in the number of sixth-graders passing the state's Literary Passport Test. Only 58 percent of all sixth-graders passed all three parts of the test - math, reading and writing.
But the number of students scoring above the 50th percentile on the Iowa Test of basic skills increased by more than 4 percent at 11 of the city's 29 schools, he said.
At the board's annual workshop to set goals for next year, Harris said the city's schools have "much still to accomplish" in academic achievement and attendance. Roanoke's test scores and attendance remain below the state average - and behind several nearby school divisions - in some categories.
In his annual "state of the schools" report, Harris said there has been an increase in the number of students receiving advanced diplomas and enrolling in advanced courses.
More middle school students are taking algebra and foreign languages, and more high school students who do not plan to attend college are completing vocational programs, he said.
Harris said city schools are safe and orderly, citing a decrease in disciplinary committee hearings from 63 to 46 per year in the past three years. About a dozen students were expelled in each of those years.
Harris told the board that he made 215 visits to schools during the past year and found "school environments are orderly" and conducive to learning.
The schools have continued to upgrade technology and train teachers to use computers and other technology, and 1,941 computers were bought during the past year. Now the school system has a student-to-computer ratio of 8-to-1. Twelve schools have a ratio of 5-to-1.
School officials are developing a program to inform parents about ways they can become more involved in their children's schools. A brochure has been created for distribution to all parents and guardians at the opening of school in September, Harris said.
During the workshop, board members decided to step up their lobbying of City Council for funds to pay for nearly $20 million in school improvements over the next five years.
"Our capital needs are critical. We could face a crisis if we don't get the money," said John Saunders, a board member.
School officials said the funds are needed to renovate Woodrow Wilson and Addison middle schools, install air conditioning at a dozen elementary schools, and add classrooms at more than half a dozen elementary schools.
Board Chairman Nelson Harris, who will take a seat on City Council next week, said he understands that city officials plan a bond referendum in November 1997 that would include funds for school improvements.
Board members agreed to plead their case for the funds when they meet with council in August.
Saunders said the board also will need money to continue its plan to raise teachers' salaries to the national average by 1999. To accomplish that, schools will require an increase of $4 million a year in revenue in the next two years, Wayne Harris said.
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