In the 18 months since Roanoke school officials committed to do more business with companies owned by women and minorities, those businesses still represent a negligible fraction of the district's total spending.

Only two certified minority-owned businesses held contracts with the school system in 2008, accounting for $2,780, a tiny fraction of the system's $49 million in spending, according to statistics from the district. Businesses owned by women held five contracts with the school system, worth about $231,000, roughly 0.6 percent of total spending.

School officials acknowledged they need to better recruit minority- and women-owned businesses into the ranks of contractors, but said that identifying them can be difficult when many business owners do not take the necessary steps to add themselves to a state list certifying that they are owned by women or minorities.

"The numbers are unacceptably low," said Curt Baker, deputy superintendent for operations.

The school system has had slightly more success in its efforts to do business with local vendors. For 2008, about 5.1 percent of spending went to local contractors, much of it on construction projects.

The school district started keeping data on its vendors after approving a policy in 2007 to "encourage participation by locally owned businesses and businesses owned by minorities and women in all aspects of school board contracting opportunities."

Part of the problem is that many minority-owned businesses are too small to successfully bid on large government contracts, especially the large building contracts associated with the recent Patrick Henry and William Fleming high school construction projects. At the same time, some of these businesses may not have had good experiences with the school district in the past, Baker said.

Baker said the school system is now working to break up its purchases into several smaller bids in order to attract more under-represented businesses. It is also compiling a list of potential women- and minority-owned vendors and inviting them to bid on projects.

"Outreach is the most important thing," Baker said. "The whole process of building some level of trust and understanding isn't an overnight proposition."

As low as they are, Roanoke's numbers are not uncharacteristic. A 2003 study of state contracting found that only 1.27 percent of all contracts were let to businesses owned by women and minorities.

"It was a shocking eye-opener because we had the lowest amount of participation in the nation," said Samuel Hayes, director of the Virginia Department of Minority Business Enterprise. "I tell people Virginia's only 50 years out of Massive Resistance."

Hayes estimated that about 10 percent of spending today goes to businesses owned by women and minorities.

The department maintains a list of certified small businesses or businesses owned by women or minorities, which it makes available to government procurement officers. Of the 18,000 businesses on the list, about 4,500 are minority-owned and 4,000 are owned by women, Hayes said. He estimated that up to 70,000 businesses could be eligible.

"There's a lack of awareness about the program," he said.

Roanoke school officials said some of their minority business partners are not on the state's list. According to the statistics, minority business owners held 12 school contracts in 2008, although only two were certified. The school system said 19 businesses owned by women held contracts, five more than were certified.

One of the few certified minority-owned businesses working with the school system is Precious Cargo Tours, a small bus company based in Covington that takes high school athletes to out-of-town competitions.

Wanda Moore, who owns the company with her husband, said she has had a good experience working with the district.

"We've had a great partnership with them," she said. "We'd like to see it remain."

But it's unclear whether Moore's company will be able to continue doing business with the school system. In April, Roanoke school officials outsourced the district's transportation to a Pennsylvania company, which may take over the athletic trips.

Moore said many other small minority-owned businesses may be reluctant to seek out opportunities with new partners.

"You can get comfortable because maybe you have one consistent client and you don't get into the marketing aspect," she said. "You have a little comfort zone going."

School board member Courtney Penn said he was disappointed by the school system's contracting statistics.

"We really are trying hard to create hope, and this really in my mind is diametrically opposed to that concept of creating that hope so that everyone can see themselves in this community of prosperity and growth," he said.