Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 26, 1991                   TAG: 9102260350
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: THOMPSON EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOLS GET BAD NEWS FROM STATE ON FUNDING

And the bad news continues.

City school officials learned Monday that their hopes for up to $600,000 in new funds from the General Assembly had been dashed. Roanoke will get only half that from the state, forcing the board to compensate with some severe cuts to its pending budget.

"That's very disturbing news," Superintendent Frank Tota said Monday.

The School Board may cut programs that previous members had set as top priorities two years ago, including full-day kindergarten programs and seven-period high school days.

Roanoke had learned in December it would get $1.8 million less in state aid this year than last year. But legislators adopted a budget Saturday restoring $45 million of the $151 million in cuts to school districts that Gov. Douglas Wilder had initially recommended.

Deputy Secretary of Education Suzette Denslow said the General Assembly's budget restores $276,000 to Roanoke schools.

The School Board meets at 7 tonight and is scheduled to discuss the budget that it plans to adopt March 7.

Monday's news from Richmond will force board members to cut deeper into areas they had hoped to protect, said Richard Kelley, executive for business affairs.

For example, seven-period high school days had been designed to offer high school seniors special electives and college-level courses. "But we would go back to a six-period day" if the board adopts cuts the administration recommended last month, Kelley said.

A four-phase list of 29 possible cuts totaling $3.8 million was given to the board in January as a means of balancing the budget. Board members had hoped new state money would help them avoid implementing the most drastic cuts in the fourth phase, but now it seems nearly all recommended cuts will be needed.

That would include also cutting $800,000 in teacher and employee raises.

The budget has an expected $63.5 million in total revenue. Add to that another $276,000 from the state and revenues still fall $600,000 behind last year.

Nearly half the revenue in the 1991-92 budget is local money while about 35 percent is state money and 12 percent is federal.

Kelley said that once the 82-page budget is adopted, the School Board likely will ask City Council for another $1.2 million in the form of a "supplemental budget request." Last year, the city gave another $800,000 for the supplemental budget.

Kelley said extra money this year could restore pay raises, add new dropout prevention programs and add four schools to the 11 that have full-day kindergarten.

The proposed budget also includes the following tidbits:

Most of this year's expenditures - about $55.5 million - would pay the salaries of 1,600 employee positions.

About $50 million in proposed expenses is directly related to instructing the city's 12,360 students. The remainder is spent on maintenance and support services.

Because of expected enrollment loss - from 12,535 to 12,360 - 12 teaching and two administrative positions would be eliminated.

Enrollment has declined by 2,745 students since 1981. The school budget has risen during that time from $36 million in 1982-83 to $64.5 million last year.

In recent years, the budget usually has grown by 5 percent to 12 percent over the previous year. This will be the first year in recent history that the budget shrinks.