County Budget Committee Gets First Look at Proposed New School Budget

June 4, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Budget Committee got its first look at the proposed 2020-21 school budget during a meeting Wednesday evening at the courthouse.

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps reviewed with the committee highlights of the budget as adopted by the DeKalb County Board of Education last month.

Cripps said the budget includes a $2,000 pay raise (including the 2% state increase) per certified employee and a $1,000 increase (locally funded) for each non-certified support staff employee.

“We are trying to improve teacher pay because we (DeKalb County) still lag behind the state average weighted teacher salary by about $3,000,” said Cripps.

Funds are included in the school budget for the purchase of 24.5 acres of property on North Congress Boulevard near Northside Elementary School for construction of a new pre-K to 2nd grade elementary school. The price is $18,000 per acre for a total of $441,000. The purchase is subject to favorable core drilling and a TDOT traffic study. The school budget includes $500,000 from the BEP technology fund to cover the cost.

A 3.5% increase in funds is included to help absorb anticipated higher employee health insurance costs.

“When we first started creating our budget the state said our insurance would go up possibly by as much as 8%. We budgeted for an increase of 3.5% but the great unknown is how many people (employees) are going to pickup insurance (through school system) after all this (COVID 19) has happened. Since COVID 19 we have had some employees come in whose spouse had lost their job and benefits and needed to pick up insurance with us,” said Cripps.

To help hold down overall costs and the need for seeking new local tax revenue, Director Cripps said efforts have been made to move funds around among the budgetary line items. “We try our very best to move money around from one category to the next,” he said. For example technology funding will be used to help cover increased costs of textbooks needed to meet the state curriculum.

“In the past we have budgeted $350,000 for textbooks but in one year it’s jumped to $475,000. We’re looking at books costing us from $250 to $300 apiece. We moved money from our technology line and last year we were able to purchase 2 buses so we moved that money (for a bus this year) over to the budgetary line item for books as well,” said Cripps. Plans are to purchase one new school bus this year instead of two.

The state will also be continuing funding for ACT testing next school year.

“The state sent us money last year for ACT testing but due to COVID 19 we were unable to test our eleventh grade students. They asked us to roll that money over to our new budget to test both the eleventh graders and twelfth graders this year,” Cripps continued.

The budget committee took no action on the school budget Wednesday night.

The county budget committee is made up of members Jeff Barnes, Anita Puckett, Sabrina Farler, and Jerry Adcock. All were present for the Wednesday night meeting. Last week County Mayor Tim Stribling announced during the regular monthly meeting of the county commission that he was appointing Dr. Scott Little to fill a vacancy on the budget committee. Stribling also appointed Barnes as chairman of the committee. But since no commission vote was taken to confirm the appointments, a special called conference call meeting of the county commission will be held Monday night, June 8 at 6:45 p.m. to make the appointments official, subject to a favorable vote. WJLE will broadcast the meeting LIVE. During Wednesday night’s meeting, the budget committee appointed Barnes to serve as temporary chairman in the meantime.

June 2, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The annual Pea Ridge Kids Fishing Rodeo held conjunction with Free Fishing Day in Tennessee will not take place this year because of COVID 19.

The Rodeo, usually held at the big pond in the Pea Ridge Wildlife Management Area for kids through age 15, would have been held this Saturday, June 6. Along with the thrill of fishing, the Rodeo always treated youngsters to snacks, soft drinks, and prizes.

“We were instructed by our agency (TWRA) not to have any large event due to COVID 19 so all agency sponsored fishing events across the state have been canceled and that includes the Pea Ridge Rodeo. I apologize to everyone for that. I wish we could have done something different,” said TWRA Officer Tony Cross.

People may still go to the pond to fish on their own. Just be respectful of the property and keep the area free of litter.

“We still were able to stock the pond. We put about 250 pounds of catfish in there last week. Everyone is welcome to go up there to the pond and fish if they have their appropriate license. The only thing we ask is please respect the property. Posts, cables, and gates were erected there a couple of months ago in response to folks who had been driving out in our fields in violation of posted signage there. We actually had a double gate put at the bottom of the parking lot but not long after that someone drove through and over the gates and bent them badly . We have since been able to get the gates put back up and locked. I know most people are not guilty of something like that but if you are fishing at the pond and see anything like that occur again please report it. Remember to park in the designated area and access the pond through the walkway. We encourage everyone to go up there and enjoy it but treat it right. Be respectful and take your garbage back with you for disposal,” said Officer Cross.

June 3, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Tennessee’s 2020 Free Fishing Day will go on as scheduled. The day is set for Saturday, June 6 when anyone may fish free without a license in Tennessee’s public waters.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency provides the annual free day in hopes of increasing interest in fishing. The day allows anyone the opportunity to try this great outdoor sport, especially children to celebrate fishing as a wholesome and healthy recreational option. In addition, children ages 15 and younger may fish without a license beginning on Free Fishing Day through the following Friday (June 12).

This year’s Free Fishing Day will be held under unusual circumstances. Due to the coronavirus pandemic many events have been cancelled, including all TWRA-hosted events. Check TWRA’s youth fishing website for a complete list of events and cancellations. Despite having the organized events cancelled, TWRA will still stock these locations with catfish before Saturday and encourages families to go fishing at a safe distance.

“We regret that our personnel will not be able to attend or host the fishing events that we all enjoy, but safety is our top priority” said Frank Fiss, TWRA Fisheries chief. “Despite this, we have continued the stocking process and hope families can go and enjoy the day.”

The day and week are annual events in Tennessee and are great opportunities to introduce children to the enjoyment and excitement of a day on the water catching fish. The TWRA annually stocks several thousand pounds of catfish for Free Fishing Day.

Free Fishing Day and Week apply to Tennessee’s public waters, TWRA owned and operated lakes, and state park facilities. Some privately owned pay lakes and ponds continue to charge during this special day and week. Anglers will need to consult with those operators if there are any questions about a facility.

TWRA encourages all anglers to follow CDC guidelines and to recreate responsibly. Find more at: https://www.responsible-recreation.org/.

Waters stocked with catfish within TWRA, Region III counties include:
Dickert Pond at Camp Jordan-East Ridge
Grundy Lakes-Grundy SP
Kimball Pond-Kimball
Bridgestone/Firestone Lake-Bridgestone/Firestone WMA
Barren Fork Reservoir-McMinnville
Pea Ridge WMA Lake-Pea Ridge WMA
Cane Creek Park Lake-Cookeville
Kelly Lake-Standing Stone SP
Dillon Pond-Livingston
Athens Rec Park Lake-Athens
Byrd Lake-Cumberland Mtn SP
Kefauver Lake-Madisonville
Indian Boundary Lake-Cherokee National Forest

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