SCHOOL BUDGET PROPOSAL BAFFLES SUPERVISORS

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 26, 1992                   TAG: 9202260130
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
SCHOOL BUDGET PROPOSAL BAFFLES SUPERVISORS
The Montgomery County School Board's proposed budget for next year continues to baffle the Board of Supervisors.
County Administrator Betty Thomas gave the supervisors an analysis of the school budget Monday night, but they are still expected to have plenty of questions for school officials at tonight's special meeting.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the board room on the third floor of the courthouse.
The supervisors want to know more about the $52.6 million budget so they can better decide how to slash it.
"I'm trying to get at some bottom-line essential budget I can work from," Supervisor Henry Jablonski told his fellow board members Monday.
Supervisor Joe Gorman complained that the School Board's budget is hard to understand and that some items are included without any explanation why they are needed.
This year's budget deliberations pit a Board of Supervisors concerned about holding the line on spending in the face of a weak economy against a School Board wanting to set an agenda for the improvement of the school system.
School Board members decided to put what they consider the county's educational needs up for discussion despite their steep cost. The board has proposed spending roughly one-third more next year than the $39.2 million in this year's budget.
Thomas has said the county has not been skimping on school funding. She pointed out Monday that the county's share of the school budget has increased from $12.4 million in 1987-88 to $18.3 million this year.
The School Board's proposed budget, however, would increase the county's share to $30.5 million,or 58 percent, next year. That would require a 66-cent increase in the county's 70-cent real estate tax rate.
The biggest increase in the School Board's budget is $3.54 million for a 15.24 percent average raise for teachers. The next biggest item is $3.04 million to equip the county's 700 classrooms with computers. Other big increases would go for new buses and additional teachers.
In response to a question from Jablonksi, County Finance Director Jeff Lunsford reported that it would take a school budget of $41.3 million next year to operate the schools at this year's levels, open the new Falling Branch Elementary School in Christiansburg and provide school employees with a 4.5 percent raise.
Such a budget would require an additional $900,000 in local funding, or a tax increase of roughly 3.3 cents.
That answer to Jablonski's question may provide the best indication of what the schools can hope to receive from the county.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB