Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 12, 1994 TAG: 9403140231
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
``We locked in on June 17 as our last day,'' Superintendent Bill Asbury told the board Thursday night. ``I think families need to count on that.''
There are no plans to ask the state to waive any of the 990 hours of education school systems are supposed to provide annually.
Earlier this year, the board approved a schedule of 15 makeup days. Because Pulaski County has a slightly longer school day than the state requires, it could make up the remaining hours with so-called ``banked time'' from those longer days.
As of now, the plan is to do just that. But the board is also considering other options, such as using the remaining two days left on spring break.
``There is a lot of concern that our kids have missed a full month,'' Asbury said. Other options, such as extending the last day of school beyond June 17 or having Saturday classes, were unattractive to board members.
Board members will talk to people in the community to see how they feel about the various options.
If no more days are lost to weather and no new makeup days are added, Pulaski County will have had 173 days of school by June 17. Last year, the county had 175 days.
Teachers and staff also lose days because of weather. Some of those days are simply forgiven in cases of such severe weather, with teachers paid as usual.
``Each day is worth about $55,000,'' he said. ``Ten days forgiven is a half-million dollars of time.''
The situation is different for cafeteria workers and bus drivers. ``They don't get paid unless they work,'' he said. Administrators have to log lost time as vacation days after a certain number, he said.
Asbury noted that several staff development days for teachers are scheduled during the summer, for which teachers get extra pay. If those days instead were counted as makeup days for the teachers, he said, the county would get ``some value for time we'd have to pay for twice.''
Asbury will consult with the Pulaski County Education Association to get reactions from teachers.
The board also discussed 1994-95 budget options based on the latest estimates of how much state revenue will be available.
If current state figures hold up, they would allow teacher salary increases of 3 percent as well as the 1.25 percent deferred from the current year, increasing health premiums 3.1 percent, paying supplements to teachers involved in extracurricular activities and other projected expenses.
The items that would not be funded unless more money is found would be $124,000 for school bus replacement and $60,000 for science technology at Pulaski County High School.
``Those would be the casualties. We do have some ideas how to go about funding those at a later time,'' Asbury said.
The board will assemble at 8 a.m. ThursdayMarch17 for at least one more budget workshop. A public hearing on the proposed budget was scheduled for 7 p.m. March 24 at the County Administration Building. The final budget is to be presented to the Board of Supervisors at 7 p.m. April 11.
Becky Phillips reported on procedures drawn up to comply with the federal 1973 Rehabilitation Act, concerning meeting special needs of children with physical impairments.
It is part of the school system's motto to ``Reach Each Child,'' Phillips said. About 25 children with medical disabilities have been identified and plans for them have been put in place, she said.
``How have we been handling this in the past?'' board member Lewis Pratt asked, noting that the act is nearly 23 years old.
``We haven't,'' Phillips said. Schools have been efficient enough in meeting the needs of children with disabilities that there has been no complaint during that time, she said, but the staff thought it was time to formally draw up regulations and procedures paralleling the federal guidelines.
Asbury said conditions for which plans can be written range from attention-deficit hyperactive disorders to AIDS.
by CNB