Blount County school board votes on budget cuts

Tensions were high at a special called Blount County Schools board meeting Tuesday night to discuss and vote on adjustments to FY 24-25 budget items.

After the original budget passed in May, the district found itself in a $1.2 million deficit and the board voted to make cuts to several programs under General Purpose School Fund 141 to remedy the deficit.

“After the setting of the tax rate at last week’s commission meeting, and in order to maintain our commitment to improve compensation, we had to re-examine all areas of the budget, many of which provide direct services to students,” Director of Schools David Murrell said.

BCS teacher pay will start at $50,000 in the 24-25 school year.

The raise for beginning career teachers cost $3 million, according to BCS Chief Financial Officer Kristi Yates.

“Our teachers in Blount County Schools deserve a competitive wage in the region and throughout the state of Tennessee. I am grateful for the vote of support from the Blount County Board of Education to set the beginning teacher salary at $50,000 in collaboration with the Blount County Education Association,” Murrell said in a statement.

Murrell said the budget development cycle is approximately six months long, and improving compensation for all employees was a high priority.

“After we looked at the deficit, plugged in revenues and made salary adjustments, we found ourselves in a deficit of $1,250,000 in the General Purpose School Fund,” said Murrell.

Program Cut

The subject of much scrutiny Tuesday evening was the Advanced Learner Program cut, which will disband the program completely.

The Advanced Learner Program was designed for third through eighth-grade students described as high-achieving, said BCS 6-12 Supervisor of Instruction Jon Young in a phone interview with The Daily Times.

Two teachers oversaw the program for the district. Students would engage in STEM activities, academic Olympics and breakout games that would teach them leadership skills.

The program was also linked to Maryville College who helped to host a STEM summer camp for the children.

Young described the program as “very near and dear to me because my own son was in the program.”

While he said he is sad to see it go, Young called BCS teachers phenomenal and was confident that the district would continue to serve its students’ needs. “Things will be ok,” he said.

Board Discussion

As the board discussed the budget recommendations, board member Fred Goins voiced several concerns regarding the Advanced Learner Program cut.

Goins said that he thought elementary schools were taking the hardest hit in comparison to middle and high schools.

He told the board that one of his concerns was that while students in middle and high schools have access to things like honors classes, with the cuts, elementary students wouldn’t have any higher-level learning opportunities.

Board member Vandy Kemp questioned the program’s effectiveness, stating, “I’ve done quite a bit of research on this particular program, and I cannot find evidence that this program is meeting the needs of the kinds of kids that you’re talking about.”

Both Goins and Kemp agreed that the program needed some work but disagreed over how it made sense within the budget. Kemp suggested that if the program isn’t working, it should be eliminated, but Goins was worried that if they didn’t keep the funds on hand to rework it, they wouldn’t be able to bring it back.

Yates mentioned the possibility of allocating funds to programs like Advanced Learners in the future, especially after they settled from raising the teacher pay.

Before taking an official vote, school board Chair Erica Moore spoke regarding the cuts.

Moore said cuts are never easy. “I don’t think this was easy for any of us to have to cut it and I think everybody had to give up a little bit of something in this budget,” she said.

Moore said the cuts were as evenly distributed as they could make them. She spoke on the possibility of bringing programs back but didn’t want to do so at the risk of people’s jobs.

Moore told the board that BCS is extremely blessed not to be in debt as a district.

“I’m telling you guys, at some point, you have to be able to put your trust and your faith also into the people that we have working for us,” Moore said.

When asked if there was anything the community could do to help raise funds in order to keep the program, Yates told The Daily Times, “The district will continue to evaluate all programs and seek funds through various sources in order to meet the unique needs of all students.”

Vote

The budget cuts passed 4-3, with Kemp, Robbie Kirkland, Moore and Joe Lindsey voting in favor.

Goins, Brian King and Phil Porter voted against.

Murrell said it was rare that they have to cut programs and that this was a difficult decision but emphasized that no one lost a job due to the budget cuts. The teachers in positions that were cut were moved to the classroom.

Other items discussed that were unanimously passed were budget increases for a CMS Fire Alarm System, the William Blount High School CTE Renovation Project and Contingency Funds.

The board also voted to change the school fee schedule. Last year, the Board of Education paid 100% of the student general fees, which were $20 for elementary and $25 for middle and high school.

After the vote Tuesday night, the board will now pay $10 towards the student general fee, making the total families pay $10 for elementary and $15 for middle and high school. General fees go directly to classroom teachers in order to purchase instructional supplies.

The last approval of the night was on the adoption of a new upper-level math textbook, “Thinking Mathematically,” by Savvas.