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Roanoke residents and educators urge council not to cut school programs, say proposed changes will harm students
Summary
Dozens of students, teachers, parents, and residents urged Roanoke City Council to restore or protect funding for Roanoke City Public Schools, with repeated requests to preserve the PLATO gifted program, activity buses and preschool resources; speakers cited specific figures they say would leave RCPS with a multi-million-dollar shortfall.
Dozens of Roanoke residents, including students, teachers, parents and school staff, used the Feb. 17 public-comment period to urge City Council to restore previously allocated funding for Roanoke City Public Schools and to avoid cuts that would eliminate programs such as PLATO (the gifted program), activity buses and three-year-old preschool.
Third-grade student Adrian Ostrander told council the decisions "affect us directly," saying: "PLATO is the reason I'm excited to come to school every day." Several other PLATO students gave short statements describing how the program challenges them and helps them belong.
Victoria Shockley Newton, a band teacher at James Madison Middle School, said the council’s proposed funding plan changes the school allocation from 40% of city tax revenue to 34% and accused the council of earlier claims against RCPS that she said were "discredited" and not followed by an apology. Newton said the council was proposing to require RCPS to surrender $20,500,000 in savings and that, under the proposal, the school system would face a deficit she described as more than $16,000,000.
Rebecca Murphy, representing the RCCPTA and Roanoke City families, asked the mayor to explain what city cuts and offsets justify reductions to school funding and called on the council to restore the fund balance RCPS developed over multiple years. Multiple speakers—teachers, parents and former educators—warned that cutting the programs would disproportionately harm vulnerable students who rely on activity buses, after-school programming and specialized instruction.
Speakers framed the debate as a question of community priorities and long-term city health: Kat Duncan, a 12-year Roanoke City Schools employee, said the city faces a shortfall she described as $16,000,000 for RCPS and urged the council to revisit the funding policy; Stacey Orris, a 16-year city administrator and parent, said the budget reflects the city's priorities and argued that investing in schools is an investment in the city's future.
Council did not vote on school funding during the meeting; public commenters requested further information and action from the mayor and city manager, and several said they would hold council accountable in upcoming elections if funding changes proceed.
