Minutes 10/09/1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF MARTINSVILLE Date: To: May 10, 1990, Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Subject: George W. Brown, 'City Manager Recommendations of Items to Consider Re: Z. Rating Guide In response to a request made byCouncil during the Council meeting held May 8, 1990 that I make a recommendation listing the key items from Martinsville's rating as listed in the Rating Guide to Life in America's Small Cities, the following is submitted for your consideration. In my opinion, the key categories over which the City of Martinsville has some influence or measure of control and which result in a low rating are in the area of Education. An example of this is High School Experience. Data used in the rating shows. Martinsville's percentage of people 25 or older who graduated from high school as 45.7%. This figure is for 1980, and the City may have improved since that time. However, if we still have this low level of high school educated adults, there are a number of potential programs which could be initiated by Council to encourage those adults who did not graduate from high school to pursue a high school equivalency certificate. Two other categories within the Education area also provide opportunities for influence by Council. Category #2, High School Dropouts, lists Martinsville's dropout rate at 21.8%. Again, this figure is from 1980 and may have since improved. The School Budget which was tentatively approved by Council contains $50,288 for a Drop-Out Prevention program. However, there may be other programs or measures available to the School Board to combat the drop-out problem. The final category within the Education-area which is a cause of concern is College Influence. This category lists Martinsville's percentage of persons between the ages of 18 and 24 who are in school as 23.7% (this is also for 1980). Council, in cooperation with the School Board, could initiate some sort of program designed to encourage college attendance by our high school students. In the area of Sophistication, the category of College Education may provide another possible area of attention by Council. Martinsville is listed here as showing only 8.3% of persons 25 years of age or older who have attended college for at least four years (1980 statistics). It may be possible to develop some sort of program aimed at encouraging older adults to pursue a college 55 WEST CHURCH STREET P. O, DRAWER 1112 MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA 24114 PHONE: (703) 638-3971 FAX: (703) 638-3158