
News
Director Breaks Down Sources of Funding for DeKalb School District Operation (View Video Here)
December 13, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
Where does the funding come from to support the DeKalb County School District?
During Thursday night’s regular monthly meeting of the school board, Director Patrick Cripps gave a school funding breakdown from local, state, and federal sources.
“I am going to break down our budget and where our money comes from,” said Director Cripps. “One thing I want to stress is that a majority of our money comes to us from the state and that is right at $24 million. When that money is sent to us it is not designated per school. Each student will generate $7,050. On top of that, students that may have unique learning needs will generate a percentage above that. Unique learning needs vary from how many hours that they may receive services outside the classroom so they will generate a little bit extra money for that,” explained Director Cripps.
“Another source of our income is from our county and that is right around $5.3 million that we get from the county. The next pot of money we get is from grants that we write. Our pre-K program includes four classrooms at Smithville Elementary School and one classroom at DeKalb West School. Those programs are totally funded by the state”.
“In the budget this past year was an innovative school grant for CTE programs and that was right at $500,000 to $800,000 and it was a two to three year grant”.
“Another pool of money we get is from federal dollars,” Cripps continued. “We generate about $2 million total but that is split up with special education money which is around $785,000. And then our Title I,II,III, & IV funding supports our English as a second language programs and it provides our RTI programs that we have at each school. RTI is remediation to intervention. That generates about $1.2 million”, said Director Cripps.
“That $7,050 that each student generates breaks down among different departments including salaries for educators and for bus drivers, purchasing buses, maintenance personnel and projects they do, custodial staff and the contracts we have for them, books, technology, and paying for utilities. All our departments are wrapped up in that $7,050 per student”.
“When the state switched to TISA funding they stopped saying this department is getting a certain amount of money versus other departments. They are now saying you are generating enough for a certain number of teachers. That $7,050 is taking care of all those departments for the county as a whole. Its not that Smithville Elementary gets a certain amount of money and DeKalb West gets a certain amount of money, etc. it is all pooled together and we are to meet the needs of those students at each individual school within the money generated for us,” explained Director Cripps.
“With the new 3rd grade reading law, we have money that is generated to provide support for those students in 3rd grade and also in kindergarten, first, and second grades and for tutoring in 4th grade. That money is divided within the TISA allocations sent to us from the state”
“Looking at our budget, nearly 70% of our budget is salaries. That is the majority of our budget. I have said many times if you are going to get good quality educators, you are going to have to pay them. I do think we have good quality educators. We are always looking to improve in areas we see we need improvement”
“This is how our budget is broken down for our district,” concluded Director Cripps.
Meanwhile in his monthly report on personnel, Director Cripps said Morgan Oyster has been granted a leave of absence as requested and Lori Vandergriff has retired as teacher at DeKalb West School.
DESA to prepare and deliver Christmas Eve Meals
December 12, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb Emergency Services Association will once again be delivering Christmas Eve meals in the community.
If you are in need of a meal visit https://www.dekalbesa.com/meal-deliveries/ or call 615-464-0575 to sign up. If you received a meal at Thanksgiving, you are already on the list. If you received a meal on Thanksgiving and do not need a meal or need to change the number, please fill out the form and enter 0 if you no longer need a meal.
If you would like to volunteer to plate or deliver be at the County Complex by 9:30am on Christmas Eve.
As always DESA needs desserts and/or MONEY! You can bring desserts to Adoration Home Health and Hospice in front of the hospital the week before, the night before between 5pm and 7pm, or the morning of. You can donate to the purchase of 400 pounds of ham with all the sides by following the link or at Wilson Bank & Trust.
Woman Sentenced in October Stabbing
December 12, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
A Sparta woman has been sentenced on an aggravated assault charge two months after she allegedly stabbed a man during an argument at a residence in Dowelltown.
44-year-old Christie Dawn Bouldin entered a plea by criminal information Monday to aggravated assault and received a 5-year sentence suspended to supervised probation. She is also under a restraining order from the victim. The case is to run consecutive to any other case she may have. Restitution in the case is to be determined by probation if any. Bouldin was given 58 days jail credit.
Chief Deputy Brian Williams of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department said that on October 11 deputies responded to South Mill Street for a stabbing. Upon arrival, officers spoke to the victim (a man) who had numerous stab wounds on his upper body and head. According to the victim, Bouldin had stabbed him several times with a tire punch. The man suffered severe injuries and he was life flighted. Bouldin then fled the scene but was taken into custody the following morning.
According to the report, the deputies made contact with the victim who had an abundance of blood coming from his head area. The officers asked the victim what happened. He stated that he and Bouldin were in a bedroom when she began arguing with him. He said she knocked him down, jumped on top of him and stabbed him all over with a tire punch. The man said Bouldin then ran out the front door. The victim then went to a neighbor’s home where they called 911.
A Liberty man arrested in July after he was spotted driving a stolen vehicle appeared for sentencing in criminal court Monday.
34-year-old Dustin Kane Underhill entered a plea to theft over $10,000 and received a 3-year sentence all suspended to supervised probation. The term is to run concurrently with a Rutherford County probation. Underhill was given jail credit from July 25 to December 9, 2024.
Chief Deputy Brian Williams of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department said that on July 25 Underhill allegedly stole a 2016 Ford F150 4×4 valued at $37,000 from a driveway on Groom Street, Liberty. Criminal investigators spotted the stolen vehicle traveling on North Congress Boulevard in Smithville and pulled it over. Underhill, the driver, was placed in custody.
27-year-old Keely Jacobs entered a plea by criminal information to one count of methamphetamine possession over 0.5 grams with intent to sell or deliver. She received an 8-year sentence all suspended to supervised probation and was fined $8,000. Jacobs was given jail credit from September 9 to December 9, 2024.
Jacobs was originally charged with offenses on August 27 & 31 and September 4,9 & 12 including, bringing contraband into a penal institution; possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver (2 counts); identity theft (3 counts); driving on a revoked or suspended license (3 counts); possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver; criminal impersonation; prescription drug fraud; and possession of drug paraphernalia.
29-year-old Shadayda Storm Farris entered a plea to attempting to facilitate identity theft and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days all suspended to supervised probation. The sentence is to run concurrently with a Cumberland County TDOC sentence against her. She was given jail credit from April 28 to July 13, 2024 and from November 6 to December 9, 2024.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said that during a DUI arrest on April 28, Farris said her name was Skylar Fox and gave her date of birth as November 14, 1995. Farris’s actual birth date is July 3, 1995. He added that on Thursday, May 2 after her fingerprint confirmation came back through the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), it was revealed that Fox’s real identity is Shadayda Storm Farris and that she knowingly and intentionally gave the wrong name and date of birth during her April 28 DUI arrest. Farris later admitted in an interview that the name and birth date she gave previously was that of a close friend.
55-year-old Alphonso Dewayne Maynard entered a plea to sale of a schedule II drug and received a 10-year sentence all suspended to TDOC supervised probation. He was fined $2,000 and given 82 days jail credit.
51-year-old Shawn Edward Soales entered a plea to methamphetamine possession with intent to sell under 0.5 grams and received a 6-year TDOC sentence suspended to supervised probation. He was fined $2,000. The sentence is to run consecutively with another case against him
