THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 11, 1994 TAG: 9412100092
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Vanee Vines
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
These are key actions the Suffolk School Board took at its meeting Thursday:
High school ``crime lines'':
The board voted unanimously to allow Nansemond River and Lakeland high schools to set up telephone ``crime lines'' that students could use anonymously to report crime or any type of school trouble to city police.
The Police Department's Youth Services Bureau created the voluntary program, which is now being aimed at the two high schools and Nansemond Suffolk Academy's Upper School. To participate, each school must establish a student governing board and pick a faculty member to advise it. If tips pan out, students could receive prizes from local businesses willing to donate gift certificates or merchandise. The student board would be responsible for convincing local businesses to take part.
Wish lists:
A spokeswoman for school nurses and representatives from the Education Association of Suffolk, the Substitute Teachers Association and the School Bus Drivers Association presented the board with wish lists Thursday at a public hearing on the 1995-1996 operating budget. The requests ranged from pay raises to the hiring of more teachers to reduce class size. The superintendent will submit his proposed budget in late January. The board is scheduled to vote on it in March, but the City Council has until June to approve it. The current operating budget is nearly $48.2 million.
Allowance increase delayed.
The board postponed a decision to extend a 3 percent benefit increase to all current and future retirees. The state already has mandated the increase for current and future retirees from the professional ranks: teachers, administrators and clerks. The General Assembly approved the increase partly because the federal government now allows states to tax retirement benefits.
The city will have to spend an estimated $64,500 to cover the district's professionals for the 1996-97 fiscal year, when the annual increase will take effect. (The state and federal governments will contribute about $231,000 that year.)
The district also can decide whether to give non-professional workers - including custodians, bus mechanics and cafeteria managers - the same increase. The state and federal governments would not contribute any money to pay for that increase, which would cost the city $20,500 more.
Superintendent Beverly B. Cox III urged the board to delay its vote until the City Council decides later this month how much of the total increase it will cover for city and school district workers. MEMO: The Suffolk School Board meets the second Thursday of the month, in City
Council Chambers.
by CNB