THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, August 15, 1995               TAG: 9508150402
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: CURRITUCK                          LENGTH: Short :   49 lines

EVERY CURRITUCK HOME TO GET SCHOOLS REPORT

While preparing the Currituck County Public Schools annual report, Public Information Director Diane Knox made sure she gave a lot of recognition to staff members and students.

Knox also realized that a lot of people living in Currituck County might be interested in the report, not just parents who send their children to school here.

So, beginning later this week, every Currituck County household from Moyock to Carova - with children or not - should receive a copy of the annual report in the mail.

``We just wanted to get it to every taxpayer. And that's never been done before,'' Knox said Monday.

Previously, the report on school activities was printed in booklets and sent to about 2,000 families with schoolchildren. Additional copies were distributed to real estate agents and prospective residents.

This year, Knox switched to newsprint and used some of the savings to mail 8,050 copies bulk rate to every post office box and rural route in the county.

Even with the expanded distribution, this year's report cost about $4,400 less to produce and mail. The total bill was under $2,000, Knox said.

``I'm really very pleased with it,'' she said. ``It's worked out to be a very good way of producing a report.''

The 12-page publication, titled ``A proud past . . . A promising future,'' includes student and employee achievements, volunteer recognition, the business and schools partnership program and a 1995-96 school calendar.

It also shows the Currituck schools' budget for 1995-96 and offers a two-page spread on grant programs.

``That's important for the community to know that it takes a lot to educate the students, and grants go beyond what the county can provide,'' Knox said.

Space also is devoted to a construction update on the new high school being built in Barco. In fact, it was that project - funded by a $16 million bond referendum - that led to the broader circulation of the annual report.

``That was really what sparked me into thinking we should do it this way this year,'' Knox said.

The annual report is the sixth one she has prepared for the public schools. by CNB