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Statistical Introduction to Virginia,” we find the top 20 counties and/or cities median family incomes ranges from $55,00-$36,000. While these figures are for 1988, it is logical to assume they are higher for 1989.
Using real family income figures, one can see Rapphaannock is way below even number 20.
These figures hardly square with the statement, “This makes Rappahannock the 11th wealthiest county in the state.”
Indeed, there are to my personal knowledge pockets of poverty in this county that are appalling. As the director of the Child Care and Learning Center, 20 percent of our families have incomes that fall below the USDA Income Eligibility Guidelines.
Comparable information available from the Rappahannock County Elementary School shows that 17.5 percent of families in this county with elementary-age children are eligible for free or reduced lunches.
While I strongly feel that the LCI concept needs to be examined as to its validity in computing basic state aid in a community as rural as ours, none of the foregoing supports your sensational headline “County among state’s richest.”
ROSE ANN SHARP
Director, Child Care
and Learning Center
95.7%