THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997             TAG: 9702210817
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   66 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** The Portsmouth school superintendent's proposed $95.8 million operating budget for 1997-98 does not include federal Title I funds, which are in a separate budget category. A Metro News story Friday contained an error. Correction published Saturday, February 22. 1997 on page A2 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT. ***************************************************************** PORTSMOUTH SUPERINTENDENT WANTS MORE FROM THE CITY

The school administration wants the city to pitch in an extra $1.7 million for education next school year.

Superintendent Richard D. Trumble presented the administration's proposed $95.8 million spending plan to the School Board on Thursday.

Overall, the proposed operating budget is $4 million more than the one for the current school year, for a total increase of about 4 percent.

Trumble's spending plan, which the board is scheduled to act on in about three weeks, attempts to address three areas district employees and parents alike have complained about: Low salaries, unmet school maintenance needs and often insufficient school materials and supplies.

The proposed operating budget, for example, calls for a raise averaging 3 percent for teachers, librarians, guidance counselors, therapists and psychologists.

On top of that, the budget sets aside $250,000 in pay increases for the district's seasoned teachers - those with about 15 or more years in the classroom.

Other district workers would get a raise averaging 2 percent.

An additional $144,000 is earmarked for contracted maintenance work at schools; the pot for general school supplies and materials would get an extra $193,000.

While an anticipated $1.85 million in additional state aid has a good chance of materializing, the administration's hope that the City Council will write a 1997-98 check for $1.7 million more may be pie-in-the-sky.

The extra city money sought would bring the district's local money for schools to $25.9 million.

But if recent trends hold steady, the district may have a hard time persuading the council to spend more money on city schools.

From 1995-96 to the current year, local dollars for education held relatively steady.

And some City Hall staffers already have predicted that city funding for schools may again remain flat in 1997-98.

But like the little engine that could, the School Board has long felt that if it persists in asking the council for more aid while also explaining its growing list of needs, its pleas might be answered one day.

While Trumble's proposal calls for few new academic offerings, it does include more money for the expansion of two nationally recognized reading programs into more elementary schools: Success for All and Reading Recovery.

The administration based the proposed operating budget on an extra half-million in federal ``Title I'' aid for needy children to help cover those initiatives.

The board will further review the administration's spending plan at a 7 p.m. meeting next Thursday at City Hall. The public is invited.

KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL BOARD