THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 10, 1995 TAG: 9501100341
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
If things go as planned in the fall for Granby High School senior Laura Liban, she will become the first member of her family to enroll in college.
But if Gov. George F. Allen has his way, a program that helped Liban set her sights on college will be gone.
``I think it's unfair, especially toward low-income families who are looking forward to college after graduation,'' Liban, 17, said Monday of Allen's plans to cut funding for the program, Project Discovery.
For the past six years, the state-funded education initiative has helped guide into college hundreds of minority and low-income high school students in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Chesapeake, say officials at the Southeastern Tidewater Opportunity Project Inc., or STOP, a nonprofit community-action agency.
The $47,500 program is one of several outreach projects offered through STOP that would be eliminated under Allen's proposed budget cuts.
At a Monday news conference, STOP officials said the agency stands to lose nearly $160,000 - most of it money to help needy residents facing hard times in Hampton Roads and western Tidewater.
For Virginia Beach resident Ivette Tricoche, STOP helped pay her housing and child-care costs and put her through a nurse's aide program at a time when she was in financial straits.
``Without these services, I probably would have ended up on the street,'' Tricoche said.
``STOP's philosophy is to make people self-sufficient,'' Melissa James, a Norfolk STOP board member who once received assistance from the agency, said at the news conference. ``To see STOP go down hurts.''
STOP officials, who are lobbying legislators to restore the money, said up to 10 employees who deliver services could lose their jobs.
The cuts also could force STOP to close regional offices in Franklin, Isle of Wight County, Southampton County and Suffolk, said Edith R. Jones, STOP executive director.
This year, 173 high school students are involved in Project Discovery, which encourages students to stay in school and offers them a chance to explore college options.
Tracee Thomas, 15, a 10th-grader at Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, said the program has paid for students to visit college campuses, including North Carolina Central in Durham and the University of Richmond.
``They take us to colleges we would never have a chance to visit,'' Thomas said. The program also pays fees for the SAT college-entrance exam and college applications.
About one-third of the students involved this year would become the first in their families to attend college, STOP officials said.
The state funds pay the salaries of two full-time STOP employees who work with students. They would lose their jobs.
``To me, it's not about our positions, it's about those kids out there who are going to lose out,'' said Denise Wilson, STOP's Project Discovery specialist.
STOP officials said that 95 percent of the students assisted through Project Discovery went on to attend college.
Allen's budget cuts, part of his effort to funnel more money toward prison construction, have focused debate on the causes of crime and whether the governor's response is the best solution.
STOP board members said Allen's budget ax would slash programs that have existed for nearly 30 years, launched during President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty. ILLUSTRATION: ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Southeastern Tidewater Opportunity Project Inc., a nonprofit
community-action group, has helped hundreds of minority and
low-income students go to college through the Project Discovery
program.
STOP officials say the agency stands to lose about $160,000 under
Gov. George F. Allen's proposed budget cuts, which would eliminate
Project Discovery.
KEYWORDS: BUDGET CUTS EDUCATION STOP by CNB