ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610110088
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
A truce has been reached in the dispute over a bylaw proposal that could have restricted the freedom of Roanoke County School Board members to seek information on school finances.
The measure, which triggered an abrupt adjournment of a board meeting two weeks ago, has been revised to exclude requests by members for financial data and other information on school operations.
Chairman Thomas Leggette, who strongly objected to the original proposal, said Thursday night the revised version is acceptable to him.
"You have fully complied to eliminate financial information, which was my objection," Leggette told Jerry Canada, the member who introduced the measure.
Leggette apologized to board members Thursday night for his remarks at the last meeting, saying he never intended to imply that school administrators were doing anything wrong or mishandling finances.
"My frustration is not with the staff, but with a financial system that can't provide the information I would like to have," Leggette said.
Canada said he would take part of the blame for the earlier misunderstanding over the bylaw proposal. While he never intended for it to cover financial information, he said, that was not made clear at the last meeting.
Under the original proposal, all requests by board members that would require the spending of public funds would have to be directed to the superintendent during the board's regular meetings.
If it became necessary for board members to make such requests at other times, the proposal said, the requests would have to be made in writing to the superintendent. The superintendent's office would provide a written response to all board members when the requested information was available.
At the last meeting, Leggette said the wording of the proposal would apply to the costs of photocopying and computer printouts if he requested financial information from school administrators.
Under the state's Freedom of Information Act, Leggette said, he is entitled to look at school financial records at any time during business hours and to seek information from all record keepers, not just the superintendent.
The revised version states that the cost of securing, producing or providing financial information on school operations is excluded from the restrictions on spending public funds.
It also includes the statement that "this procedure is not intended to deter in any way school board members from discharging their duties or securing, by visitation or otherwise, as full information as possible about the schools."
Superintendent Deanna Gordon told board members Thursday night that her staff is willing to respond to their calls and requests at any time for information on the schools.
The board is scheduled to approve the revised bylaw proposal at its next meeting.
Leggette said he believes a new computer software program for school finances by Coopers & Lybrand, a national accounting firm, will provide the financial information he has been seeking.
The software accounting system will provide details on finances at each school, including amounts spent on personnel, instructional materials and other items, he said.
"It will provide the information that many parents want to know on how much is spent for teachers, textbooks and other things," he said.
In another matter, the board voted to invite county police to use dogs to search middle and high schools for illegal drugs that some parents suspect are being used and sold in the schools.
Police Chief John Cease, who has used drug-sniffing dogs on a limited basis in the high schools, is willing to make more extensive searches in both middle and high schools. But he wanted the board's consent.
At Leggette's urging, the board voted unanimously to request that the police make random searches for drugs in schools and at after-school activities. Leggette said he has received many complaints from parents about drugs.
Drug-sniffing dogs have been used at Salem High School, but not in Roanoke's high schools. Superintendent Wayne Harris said he doesn't see the need for such searches in Roanoke's schools at this point.
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