The Board of Education is proposing a new way to fund local pay raises for teachers and support staff.

Concerned that the school system might run over budget this year, the board is asking the county commission to allocate a larger share of local option sales tax money for schools to fund the raises. Otherwise, the board might have to opt for giving bonuses instead of raises.

The school board discussed the issue during a work session and then voted to make the request during the regular meeting that followed Thursday night.

“I would like to make a motion that we give Mr. (Patrick) Cripps the opportunity to ask the county commission if they will let us accept the budget and take it (funds for pay raises) out of the sinking fund (local option sales tax) instead of fund balance (reserves) so that we can make it a permanent raise,” said First District Member Danny Parkerson.

“When the county commission (budget committee) approved our budget with our raises (last month) it was with a condition that the money for the raises would come out of our reserves so what he (Mr. Parkerson) is requesting is that it come out of our local option sales tax dollars. We cannot sustain a raise out of our reserves (long term). It would deplete our reserves,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.

Seventh district member Shaun Tubbs offered a second to Parkerson’s motion and the other three members present voted in favor including Kate Miller, Jerry Wayne Johnson, and Chairman W.J. (Dub) Evins, III.

Under the proposed school budget, all certified personnel including teachers would be given a $600 local pay raise in addition to the $600 increase they are getting from the state for a total of $1,200. Support staff would also get a local $600 pay hike.

The school board initially wanted to give teachers and other certified personnel a $2,400 local pay raise along with the $600 state increase and $1,500 for support staff but the budget committee of the county commission rejected it on May 31 along with other extra spending proposals included in the original school budget for 2018-19.

Last month, the budget committee accepted the school board’s scaled down proposal but with the understanding that there would be no local tax increase to pay for it and that any overspending would have to be covered by cash reserves from the school system’s fund balance.

Director Cripps said the proposed pay raises would be an additional cost to the school system of from $300,000 to $400,000 per year. However the system will be saving about $200,000 this year by not filling four vacant teaching positions at the schools according to Cripps.

The county generates almost $2.5 million each year in local option sales tax funds (referred to as sinking fund). Of that, the county transfers $1,540,000 each year for the operation of schools along with $870,540 for school debt service obligations. The so-called sinking fund replenishes each year from local option sales tax collections in the county and four cities. The fund was set up decades ago by the county and intended to help fund school construction and other school capital outlay projects.

The City of Smithville is legally obligated to turn over to the county 50% of it’s local option sales tax collections for education purposes, but since 1968 the city, by agreement with the county, has been contributing more than it’s share at 66 and 2/3%. That agreement was renewed for 30 years in 2007 after the local option sales tax increased by public referendum from 1.5% to 2.75%.

The proposed general purpose school budget for 2018-19 now totals more than $23-million dollars with estimated expenditures to exceed revenues by $1,190,198. But budget projections can be deceiving.

While the school system ended the year 2014 in the red by $253,836, it was back in the black by $144,159 at the close of the 2015 budget year; by $153,335 in 2016; and by $1,052,912 in 2017 putting the fund balance or cash reserves for schools at $6.1 million. The school budget is projected to close out the 2018 year in the red by $886,937 but actual numbers are not yet known.

The county commission is expected to consider passage of budgets for all county departments including schools at the next regular meeting on Monday, July 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the courthouse.

In other business, Director Cripps updated the school board on personnel moves Thursday night.

Shelly Jared has been employed as a bookkeeper at the central office.

The following have resigned:

Renee Beaty, teacher at Smithville Elementary School
Justin Burum, teacher at DCHS
Andrew Cook, teacher
Tena Davidson, teacher at DeKalb Middle School
Jason Farley, teacher at DeKalb Middle School
Amy Fox, teacher at Smithville Elementary School
Jennifer Hawkins, teacher at Smithville Elementary School
Kathy Malone, custodian at DeKalb West School
Emily Phillips, teacher at DeKalb Middle and DeKalb West School
Lauri Sweeney, teacher at DeKalb Middle School
Carol Swope, EA and bus driver
Jared West, teacher at Northside Elementary School.

Bright Hill Road will soon be repaved from Highway 70 to Hooper Road.

Tinsley Asphalt of Tullahoma was recently awarded a bid to resurface the road. The contract is for $284,000 and will cover 2.77 miles.

Although it is partly a city street and county road, Bright Hill is included on the state aid road system which makes it eligible for state funding. According to Road Supervisor Butch Agee 98% of the costs associated with the resurfacing of the road will be funded by the state and the remaining 2% will be paid from the county highway department budget.

Agee said this project has been a long time in coming.

“It really needs it (resurfacing). It’s a bad road. I never dreamed it wouldn’t be on the state aid road list but when I first came into office I got to checking and found out it it wasn’t so I went through the state to get it on the list to be able to afford to pave it. That took a while but I finally managed to do that,” said Road Supervisor Agee.

Work should begin within a few days.

“I have talked to the contractor and he said they anticipate putting up the construction signs next week and then they will have to go in there and do some ditching and pull the shoulders to get ready for the paving. Once they get all their prep work done, they will begin paving hopefully by the first of August,” Agee continued.

Other state aid road projects completed during Agee’s term as Road Supervisor include repaving or micro-surfacing a portion of Student’s Home, South Tittsworth, Jacobs Pillar, and Holmes Creek Road. State aid bridges replaced within the last four years include the Possum Hollow, Underhill Road at Blue Springs, and Holmes Creek Road Bridge in Smithville.