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<br />i) 1""). ') <br />~, ~ <br /> <br />TUESDAY <br /> <br />JANUARY 24, 1984 <br /> <br />The regular semi-monthly meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia, <br /> <br />with Mayor William C. Cole, Jr., presiding, was held Tuesday, January 24, 1984, in the <br /> <br />Council Chamber, City Hall, beginning at 7:30 P.M., all members being present, viz., <br /> <br />William C. Cole, Jr., Mayor; L. D. Oakes, Vice-Mayor; Henry C. Reed; Eliza H. Severt; <br /> <br />and Francis T. West. <br /> <br />Following the invocation and Mayor Cole's cordial welcome to visitors present, Council <br /> <br />approved--as recorded--the minutes of its regular meeting held January la, 1984. <br /> <br />Accompanied by City School Board members and City School System staff personnel, School <br /> <br />Board Chairman Worth Carter, Jr., and School Superintendent Dr. James E. Calkins presented <br /> <br />certain schedules and exhibits, along with explanatory comments thereon, designed to <br /> <br />share with Council some of the concerns of the School Board with the future of public <br /> <br />education in the City School System as well as the School Board's stewardship of public <br /> <br />funds. In so doing, Chairman Carter expressed the Board's appreciation of Council's <br /> <br />strong support (of the School Board) over the years and indicated that the School <br /> <br />Board intends to make similar presentations to Council in the future on an annual basis, <br /> <br />continually looking toward meeting long-range needs and programs. Mr. Carter pointed <br /> <br />out the fallacy of attempting, because of many variables, to compare certain data (such <br /> <br />as the School Board's pay plan) with data from other Virginia school systems or districts <br /> <br />as well as noted that State funding is not sufficient to finance all mandated requirements <br /> <br />and programs, plus the fact that--through an erroneous compilation of data on the City's <br /> <br />"ability to pay", recently discovered and to be corrected for the next budget year--the <br /> <br />School System (i. e., the City) has been "short-changed" in State basic appropriation <br /> <br />funds for several years. Dr. Calkins then described some of the complexities which have <br /> <br />developed in recent years and which make the educational process efforts of school boards <br /> <br />and administrators more difficult than ever before, such as more single-parent homes, <br />