ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 5, 1997 TAG: 9701060013
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
If you think all schoolchildren are alike, consider Roanoke's students.
They include homeless children, teen-age mothers, physically and emotionally impaired youngsters, suspended boys and girls, expelled students, jailed youths, dropouts attending evening high school and pre-kindergarten children with physical disabilities.
And there are scores of others with learning disabilities who require special instructional services and programs.
The schools serve them all.
The city also provides special academic options for almost 1,900 students in schools and programs for the gifted.
Nearly one-third of Roanoke's students are enrolled in special programs or receive special services that will cost about $14 million next year, or 15 percent of the school budget.
The city's numbers reflect a national trend toward more "special" student populations. Other school systems in Western Virginia show a similar trend.
The largest category among Roanoke's special student groups is special education. It includes students with a variety of physical and mental disabilities such as autism, emotional problems, and hearing, speech or visual impairments.
Approximately 2,500 children in Roanoke qualify for special education services, including 1,100 boys and girls with learning disabilities but not emotional or physical impairments.
Next year, the city will spend $11.3 million for special education programs, an increase of $700,000 from this year's appropriation.
Roanoke has 135 special education teachers and 130 teacher aides for special education classes.
The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, passed in 1975, requires school systems to provide educational services to all children regardless of disability. Enrollment in these programs increased sharply nationwide after the law was enacted.
Roanoke has to place some students with disabilities in private educational institutions, such as Greenvale Nursery School, and pay for their education there when it can't provide the needed services.
The city's enrollment in special education programs is in line with the national average. Nearly 11 percent of students nationally qualify for special education services. In some states, such as Massachusetts and New Jersey, nearly 15 percent of students receive special education services.
Roanoke's numbers include about 800 children in several categories - including preschool and regional special education programs - that are not included in its enrollment of 13,215 in kindergarten through grade 12. If these are excluded, the city's rate is near 12 percent.
The number of children receiving special education services in Roanoke has increased from 2,100 during the 1992-93 school year to to 2,499 this year. It is projected to be 2,545 next year.
The second largest category is the gifted and academically talented - nearly 15 percent of the enrollment. The number of gifted students has increased from 1,310 during the 1993-94 school year to 1,875 this year.
Next year, Roanoke will spend nearly $2.1 million on academic programs for gifted and talented students, an increase of $35,000. This includes the local tuition for city students in the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology, CITY School and the PLATO program in elementary schools.
Roanoke provides services and programs for both special education and gifted students that exceed state requirements, said Superintendent Wayne Harris.
The city will spend nearly $1.9 million this year on alternative education and other special education programs that exceed state-mandated minimums, he said. And it will spend $1.5 million more for the gifted than is required.
The expenditures on these programs account for part of the $22 million - 26 percent of the school budget - that the city spends on staff and services that exceed the state's standards of quality, Harris said.
Seventy-four percent of the budget is earmarked for personnel and programs to meet state standards.
Roanoke expects to provide instructional services to 60 homeless children in shelters, detention centers and other special facilities next year in a program that is financed jointly with a federal grant and $22,500 in city funds.
Most of the homeless elementary children live in the City Rescue Mission and TAP's Transitional Living Center. The city also provides tutors for middle-and high-school students at the Sanctuary Crisis Intervention Center, a residential facility for youngsters who are having conflicts with their family and schools.
The tutors help the students with their homework and oversee reading sessions or other academic activities.
Roanoke will spend $260,000 to provide schooling for 35 teen-age mothers at the Maternal and Infant Education Center. The school system has operated the program, which offers high school diplomas, for several years. The maternal center is located in a former shopping center at Interstate 581 and Hershberger Road near the Noel C. Taylor Learning Academy.
City schools also operate the Villa Heights Education Center for approximately 40 middle-and high-school students with emotional problems at a cost of $406,000 a year.
Roanoke will spend nearly $145,000 next year for homebound instruction for an estimated 80 students who have short-term disabilities, Harris said.
Teachers will also travel to the homes of approximately 25 students who cannot attend regular classes because they have been expelled or suspended.
City schools will send teachers to jails and juvenile detention centers at a projected $53,000 cost to provide instruction to an undetermined number of special education students who are imprisoned. The schools are required to provide the service to these special education students.
Roanoke also operates an evening high school at a cost of $21,000 a year for 120 dropouts and adults to help them obtain a diploma. Adult education classes are offered to an additional 350 adults to help them improve their basic skills.
In Roanoke, as in most cities and counties, adult education has become accepted as part of the public schools' mission, just as more localities are providing preschool programs. The city has pre-kindergarten classes at many elementary schools.
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