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TUESDAY, JULY 12, 1988 <br /> <br />At the request of the City School Board, Council continued the School Board's <br />proposal, recently submitted, that an escrow account be established (by <br />initially applying certain unspent 1987-88 appropriations) whereby funds can be <br />provided sufficient to comply with a recent Federal mandate that all"'pre-DOT" <br />school buses (i.e., school buses which have not been approved by the Federal <br />Department of Transportation or do not meet its requirements) be replaced by <br />June 30, 1991 (at an estimated total cost of $450,000.00). <br /> <br />Council unanimously authorized the Blue Ridge Regional Library to expend the <br />sum of $33,539.84 in 1988-89, representing a Literacy Grant of like amount from <br />Federal Aid to Public Libraries, for the purpose of teaching functionally- <br />illiterate adult citizens to read, a program begun by the Regional Library in <br />1987 with a grant of $20,000.00. Mrs. Ann Gardner, Coordinator of this program <br />for the Regional Library, appeared before Council and described the program and <br />its accomplishments, noting that the Regional Library's program is unique in <br />that it is the only one in the general area which utilizes a one-on-one <br />approach, i.e., a volunteer tutor for each student, with the current program <br />consisting of fifty students (ranging in ages 25 to 79) and fifty volunteer <br />tutors. Mrs. Gardner also informed Council that within the areas of <br />Martinsville and Henry County, with a combined population of approximately <br />75,000 people, there are 15,000 adult citizens who have not completed the <br />eighth grade (in schools) and, by criteria, are classified as being <br />functionally-illiterate, with many within. this group being unable to read at <br />all. <br /> <br /> <br />