Hodge will present the budget to the supervisors today . Weber said she is pleased by Hodge's willingness to recommend more money for schools than had been proposed earlier. School officials are also trying to make budget adjustments so that bus drivers, cafeteria workers, secretaries and other noninstructional employees can receive 5 percent raises, said Weber, who attended the briefing. The salaries for these workers need to be raised to make them more competitive with those of nearby localities, she added. School officials said they are finding it difficult to fill some vacancies in bus driver and custodial jobs because of low salaries and the low unemployment rate in the Roanoke Valley.
Schools are a top priority for the county and a tremendous asset in economic development.
I wish we could have provided them more. Historically, the county has allocated 50 percent to 60 percent of the new revenue to the schools. In the past two weeks, School Board members have lobbied the supervisors to increase it to 50 percent or more. Initially, school officials proposed a 5 percent raise for teachers and administrators because they said they thought it was a good chance to catch up with Roanoke and Salem in salaries. Even with the reduction to 4 percent, the county's raises would still be the largest in the Roanoke Valley.