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

DATE: THURSDAY, August 4, 1994                   TAG: 9408040052
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOL BOARD HOPES NEW TEACHERS WILL RELIEVE CROWDING|

CHRISTIANSBURG - In an effort to relieve overcrowded classrooms, the Montgomery County School Board has agreed to hire several new teachers for the 1994-1995 school year. The unanimous decision puts the board closer to its goal of having a pupil-teacher ratio of 20 to 1 by the year 2006.

"We believe with this new plan we won't have more than 25 children in any classroom," Superintendent Herman Bartlett said Tuesday night. "Of course, we don't have the little glass ball that tells us where all the kids will go."

Most of the changes in faculty will occur via rearranging current teaching responsibilities or transferring teachers. Only four teaching positions - in alternative education positions, an elementary teaching position and a gifted resource position - will affect the school budget.

``We have a turnover of 50 to 60 teachers a year,'' said Director of Finance Dan Morris. The county currently employs 663 teachers. ``On average, the people coming in start at a lower pay scale than those leaving. We think the money we'll save from the turnovers will absorb the cost of these new positions.''

Last year, 8,750 students attended Montgomery County public schools; this year, Morris expects 8,934. The problem of overcrowded classrooms will not disappear soon, he said. In fact, he estimated that the county's student population will top 10,000 in the next six to eight years.

Bartlett remained optimistic at Tuesday's meeting, saying the new positions ``are a step in the right direction.''

``We believe that the 20 to 1 ratio [recommended by the Focus 2006 Strategic Planning Commission] is not out of our view at this point,'' Bartlett said.

The additional teaching positions include:

nA kindergarten teacher at Bethel Elementary School. The upcoming school year at Bethel includes a current, but still growing, enrollment of 25 children.

``It looks like we may have less kindergartners in Blacksburg than we anticipated, but it is still too early to tell," said Jim Sellers, assistant superintendent. Sellers anticipates transferring a kindergarten teacher from Blacksburg to Bethel to accommodate overcrowding there.

nA fifth-grade teacher at Christiansburg Elementary School.

nTwo teachers - third and first grade - at Riner Elementary School.

nOne gifted resource teacher to work with the county's smaller elementary schools.

nThree Chapter I-Reading Recovery teachers, which will be hired with federal funds.

Courses needed on the secondary level include:

nOne additional Latin course at Blacksburg Middle School. An itinerant - or traveling - teacher may be hired there.

nThree math periods and two periods each of English and social studies are needed at Blacksburg High School.

nTwo new teachers at the Independence Secondary School in Christiansburg.

by CNB