ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 1, 1996 TAG: 9611010036
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
In Roanoke schools, the average kindergarten class has 17 children. Roanoke County kindergarten classes average 20.4 pupils.
The trend continues in all elementary grades, with the city's classes smaller than the county's, based on enrollment and staffing records.
The gap is the greatest in kindergarten through grade three, but Roanoke also has fewer children in fourth-and fifth-grade classes.
Educators say studies show that students do better in small classes because teachers can give them more individual attention.
Roanoke has been able to reduce class sizes in recent years with the help of hundreds of thousands of dollars in state school-disparity money used to hire more teachers in kindergarten through grade three.
All of the city's 21 elementary schools qualify for disparity funds because of the number of children who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches - the government's yardstick for measuring poverty and distributing financial aid. The amount of money received by each school is determined by the percentage of subsidized lunches served.
The county will receive only $58,000 this year in disparity money, said Jerry Hardy, director of budget and data management.
"I wish we would get more, but we've got only two schools that qualify," Hardy said.
Of the county's 17 elementary schools, only Roland E. Cook and Mount Pleasant are eligible.
Now, county school officials want the General Assembly to provide more money for smaller classes at schools without large numbers of children who receive subsidized lunches. They said they've been encouraged by their talks with House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton.
Cranwell said Thursday he will work to get more funds for the county and other school systems that have not benefited substantially from the disparity effort.
About 63 percent of the state's schoolchildren in kindergarten through grade three are now in smaller classes because of the disparity funding, he said.
"I'm dedicated to getting the other 37 percent in smaller classes by expanding the program and lowering the requirement for the poverty level," Cranwell said.
Cranwell said he expects the legislature to use surplus state revenues to provide more school disparity money for localities.
Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke, said he is willing to listen to requests from the county school officials, but he didn't make any commitments.
"I want to be responsive, but it's a matter of how you split up the pie," said Woodrum, who represents part of the county.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: chart - Class size STAFF KEYWORDS: MGRby CNB