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

DATE: THURSDAY, July 8, 1993                   TAG: 9307080244
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IDEAS ARE PLENTIFUL, BUT CITY SCHOOLS STILL NEED MONEY

Nobody lacks ideas on how to improve the city's school system. But they do lack money.

So board members made finding some one of their top priorities.

"How about just, `We need bucks,' " suggested Wendy O'Neil as the board tried to iron out the final wording of its priority list for the next three years.

In the end, board members agreed to a more diplomatic approach, carefully avoiding any wording that would commit them to expanding their spending power.

"I don't think we can do anything more than develop a strategy," said Nelson Harris, acknowledging the harsh fiscal reality that confronts all school boards - they can't tax, and they don't control the purse strings.

By law, local governments hold that power. But O'Neil offered a few humorous alternatives.

Such as a small, regular allotment for lottery tickets.

"Short of being able to have bingo, we're going to have to be creative," she said.

The board - which also elected a new chairman and vice chairman during its daylong meeting at the Sheraton Airport Inn - arrived at six priorities with the help of a facilitator from First Union Bank.

It agreed to authorize the administration, under new Superintendent E. Wayne Harris, to:

Find ways to secure more money for the school system.

Audit all instructional programs in an effort to raise the standards of learning.

Develop a vision of what the Roanoke public schools should be in the 21st century.

Develop a plan to better use school and community resources (such as business partnerships and social service agencies) as part of a holistic approach to student needs.

Develop and implement a plan to improve the learning environment (for example, reduce class size, raise teachers' salaries to attract and retain the best teachers).

Continue to define, develop and implement site-based management in schools and offices.

The board held its first meeting of academic year 1993-94 in the same room in which it interviewed Superintendent E. Wayne Harris seven months ago.

Harris said it was fitting he should attend his first official board meeting at the Sheraton, where he spent more than two hours discussing his qualifications.

"I trust that today's activity will be as profitable and as productive as that day back in January," he said.

Board member Harris gave the meeting high marks - largely due to the new superintendent's ground work. The annual work session, he said, took on a completely different format arranged by Superintendent Harris.

Even before he reported for his first day of work July 1, the new superintendent ordered a series of meetings with community members and school administrators to find out what direction they thought the school system should be taking. He compiled their suggestions into three-ring notebooks, which he distributed to board members.

That process proved more effective than the public hearings traditionally held during the work sessions, said board member Harris, because more people attended. Only about five people showed up at the hearing last year, he said, compared to roughly 400 parents, staff members and city residents who attended the 14 community meetings.