The Blount County government is considering a budget that could increase to $50,000 new teachers’ salaries, but could also mean smaller raises for others than the school board has proposed.
During a called meeting Tuesday, May 7, members of the Blount County Budget Committee forwarded to the county board of commissioners recommendations for the next fiscal year’s budget, tax rate and capital outlay priorities. The county budget recommendation includes over $2 million fewer dollars for education than the budget the school board adopted earlier this year.
The county’s recommendation would lead to a raise for every classroom teacher, Blount’s accounts and budgets director Brian Baldwin told The Daily Times Wednesday.
The school board in March adopted a 2024-25 budget that included the raise to $50,000 for teachers with a bachelor’s degree and no experience, as well as a 1.4% raise for positions that don’t require teaching licenses and a 5% raise for school bus contracts, according to prior reporting from The Daily Times. Positions funded using expiring federal COVID relief money accounted for another $575,000 of the school board budget.
That budget included over $130.2 million for the district’s general purpose fund. The county’s recommendation for that budget amounts to over $127 million.
The move to change teachers’ starting pay comes two years ahead of a 2026 state-set deadline by which school districts must pay all teachers a minimum of $50,000. Currently, Blount County Schools’ starting pay for such teachers is $42,865, a number that puts it at 111 of 141 public school districts in Tennessee for new teacher salaries.
Alcoa City Schools’ starting pay for teachers hit $50,000 during the 2022-2023 school year. Maryville City Schools’ starting pay for teachers is now $47,851 but could move to $50,750 next school year.
Budget discussions
The county’s aim is increasing pay for people starting out in their careers, Baldwin told the newspaper Wednesday. He drew a comparison to the raises provided to some employees of the Blount County Sheriff’s Office within this year’s budget.
“I look forward to the next few weeks and look forward to working with all of our county departments and school department to make this budget happen. We’re committed to partnering with the school board to align priorities and funding,” county Mayor Ed Mitchell said Tuesday. Mitchell emphasized repeatedly that fiscal conservatism — maintaining the current property tax rate of $1.59 per $100 of assessed value and avoiding new debt — remains a guiding priority of the government’s.
“None of this is possible without continued hard work and dedication of each of our elected officials and department heads. I appreciate that we all take our roles in this government serious. Forget Washington, we don’t do business like that (....) and I hope our citizens are confident in what they get from us. It’s totally possible to provide services to our citizens and use what we have,” he said.
The budget proposal would cut one penny of from county’s debt service and move it to the schools budget.
The decision to shift the penny comes as projections on sales tax — which also supports the schools’ general purpose budget — appear higher than anticipated for this year, Baldwin said Tuesday. And there are major, positive implications for the school’s revenue projections from that tax.
The county government is set to next discuss the budget during a June 10 hearing, and is scheduled to hold a vote on the budget during its June 20 meeting. Members of the school board will decide how to allocate the funds from the budget commissioners adopt in June.
“Our citizens hold me accountable and hold us all accountable, as they should. We have no choice but to do good here. Nothing else is acceptable,” Mitchell said.
Getting to $50,000
Baldwin said during presentations Tuesday, “I believe you all think we can get (to $50,000).”
Once the county determines the budget and the tax rate, he said, the schools can consider “What are some different options for compensation? There are some tools there that can get teachers to $50,000.”
Schools staff and school board members have invested significant time in the board of education’s budget, BCS Director David Murrell noted in a statement to the newspaper. It reads in part, “Our district has thoughtfully requested funding that supports our top strategic priorities: effective instruction, equipped students and excellent culture. We stand committed as Team BCS that our educators deserve to be paid a competitive wage in the region.”
“I am grateful for the work of the Blount County Education Association and the board management team on developing a salary schedule that prioritized our goal of a beginning teacher salary of $50,000,” Murrell continued.
“The board’s budget request remains intact until the county sets the tax rate for fiscal year 2024-2025. As always, we are Blount County Strong and value the commitment of our staff to ensure all students receive a high quality educational experience,” he said in the statement.
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