ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 21, 1995 TAG: 9512210072
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
Pulaski County, at risk of losing funding that is, in part, based on school-age population, is set to sue Radford to find out how many county children are attending city schools.
"The School Board has authorized me to proceed with litigation if necessary to get those figures, and it's a shame. ... It's going to cost the county money," Superintendent Bill Asbury told local officials and legislators Tuesday afternoon.
Radford Superintendent Michael Wright said Wednesday that he has been asked for the names of the students.
"They wanted a list of the students ... but not figures," he said. He referred any further questions to School Board Attorney John Spiers.
Schools receive a part of their state funding in sales tax returns. The amount they receive is based on the number of school-age children in the locality. In Pulaski, School Board members fear that as many as 150 school-age children are not counted in the county's population because those students attend school in Radford. That means the county may not be getting its due in sales tax returns.
Students may go to school in Radford, which charges out-of-city students a low tuition, for any number of reasons. They may prefer the program there, or simply live closer to the Radford schools than those in their own county.
Radford officials had promised the students who attend school outside of their home county confidentiality, Asbury said. But he added that if the number is as high as 150, like one Radford School Board member has suggested, "I've got to know that."
An amount of revenue based on 150 children could not be estimated, because sales taxes vary from month to month, but Asbury said it was enough to raise a red flag when he saw that figure.
"We don't know of 150 of our kids who are in Radford," he said. "We need that information to verify our census."
"Nobody's getting the money, is what it amounts to," said Rhea Saltz, who will join the Pulaski County School Board next month. "We aren't and they aren't."
Asbury told Del. Tommy Baker, R-Dublin, and state Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, that Pulaski County stood to lose $400,000 next year in state money under another state formula for funding local school divisions.
"And, right now, we would have to look at programs and personnel," Asbury said, to make up for that loss. A reduction in force would probably be necessary, he said, "and that normally cuts off some of your best and brightest new teachers."
Gov. George Allen has talked about funding more technological equipment for schools, but the aging buildings in Pulaski County cannot handle it without expensive renovations or new buildings.
"We don't have the infrastructure to support those," Asbury said. "We're trying to tackle that now, but that's two years away."
Many classrooms have only two electrical outlets, he said. "And a fan is plugged into one."
Supervisor Bruce Fariss said two school buildings are about 40 years old and all the others are older than that.
Marye asked if it was cheaper to build new schools than to upgrade existing buildings. Based on his mail from Pulaski County residents, he said, there is opposition to closing existing schools because people see them as a focal point for their community.
"Those are the questions people are going to have to look at," Asbury said.
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