THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 24, 1995 TAG: 9503240432
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
In what has proven a relatively painless affair, the School Board on Thursday approved a $188 million budget for the next school year that avoids higher taxes or major cuts in educational programs.
While Virginia Beach struggles with a possible tax increase to pay for school needs, and Portsmouth eyes major program reductions, Norfolk has managed without a major struggle to add a few new programs and offer a respectable teacher-salary raise that averages 3 percent.
A lifesaver this year, Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. said, was a $1.2 million windfall from the state resulting from an unexpected increase in student enrollment.
The state also is providing nearly $5 million in new dollars that will allow the city to expand educational opportunities for 4-year-olds identified as risks of later failure and to reduce class sizes in grades K-3.
That state money will allow the School Board to open a third early childhood center and salvage some, if not all, of the 30 jobs and programs that would have been lost because of a 21 percent cut this year in federal Title 1 funds, designed to help educate disadvantaged children.
``Without that, we'd be in trouble,'' Nichols said.
One of the most ambitious new initiatives, at a cost of $309,000, will be the opening of an evening school geared toward students having problems in the regular school setting, including disruptive students. It will accommodate about 100 students to start.
Nichols said he hopes the school, patterned after a successful program in Virginia Beach, will help the district lower its dropout rate, which at nearly 8 percent was the highest in the state last year.
A few low-cost academic programs that school officials hope will improve scholastic performance also brighten the budget. Among them is a $50,000 expense to launch an International Baccalaureate program at Granby High School. The diploma offers entree into the world's most prestigious universities.
The district's operating budget reflects revenue growth of $6.3 million, or 3.5 percent, almost entirely as a result of the increased state funding.
The board continues to grapple with a capital improvement budget. Board members are meeting with City Council members to find an additional $6 million needed to expand Granby High and pay for other renovation and repair projects. It seems likely that the Granby project will get the money, but there is a possibility that the work could be delayed a year, officials said.
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK SCHOOL BOARD BUDGET by CNB