A Supreme Court ruling in a Minnesota case relating to “political” apparel at polling places has no impact on current Tennessee law, said Dennis Stanley, DeKalb County Administrator of Elections.

“We know some people will hear the national media reports on that court ruling and think they can now wear campaign material at the polling place and that is not the case,” Stanley said.

In Minnesota Voters Alliance vs. Manksy, the Court struck down a Minnesota law that banned “political” apparel at polling places. The Court determined the law was unconstitutional because it was overbroad and too hard to uniformly enforce. For example, NRA, Black Lives Matter, and I am Pro Life shirts could have been barred under the Minnesota law.

“The Court made it clear it was not ruling on ‘the constitutionality of laws that are not before us,’ meaning its decision only affects Minnesota,” Stanley said.

The Supreme Court previously upheld Tennessee’s law in 1992. Tennessee law, Stanley said, is more specific about what is not allowed within the 100-foot boundary and polling place.

T.C.A. 2-7-111 prohibits “display of campaign posters, signs or other campaign materials, distribution of campaign materials, and solicitation of votes for or against any person, political party, or position on a question” in the polling place and within 100 feet of each entrance to the building containing the polling place.

The Supreme Court pointed to similar laws from other states as potential ways Minnesota could properly regulate what can be worn or displayed in a polling place.

The Board of Education has been forced to downsize its request for teacher pay raises.

During its regular monthly meeting Thursday night following a one hour work session, the Board voted to revise its proposed budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year after the budget committee of the county commission rejected the first proposal last month.

The Board is asking that all certified personnel including teachers 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 under the board’s new request.

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.

In addition to the reduced proposed pay raises, the board has revised its requests in other areas.

“The county commission (budget committee) requested that we go back to last year’s budget (funding levels) and we did for the most part except for the smaller pay raises and areas where we thought there may need to be an increase such as insurance, utilities, and other needs,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.

Funding to implement a Dyslexia Program for children at the elementary school grade level has been eliminated. The board cut its requests for $215,000 in new money to buy science textbooks down to $65,000. One new school bus will be purchased instead of two buses, a savings of $100,000.

Money to purchase Chrome Books for the 3rd through 5th grades at a cost of $240,000 will be carried over since it was budgeted this past year and not spent. Students from the 6th grade through high school already have Chrome Books. Extra funds ($20,000) is still included to repair and replace existing Chrome Books.

The proposed budget still includes $10,000 in new spending for meeting mandates of state evaluation and testing.

Due to the increasing demands of technology, the board still plans to make a current half time computer tech position full time ($13,150 in new money) which would give the school system three techs.

Extra funds are included for employee matching benefits and $2,500 to help schools cover their phone bills.

The proposed general purpose school budget now totals $23,217,059 for the 2018-19 fiscal year, an increase in spending of $890,816 from this past year.

The revised budget for schools will be submitted to the county budget committee for review and approval next week.

Thirteen teachers have been granted tenure by the Board of Education.

The school board made it official during Thursday night’s monthly meeting upon the recommendation of Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.

The following teacher have successfully completed the probationary period of five years and received evaluations demonstrating an overall performance effectiveness level of above or significantly above expectations as required for tenure:

Mollie Bratten, Suzanne Gash, Martha Melching, Shelia Vanatta, Amee Cantrell, Josh Gulley, Josh Odom, Jenny Cantrell, Sara Halliburton, Heather Shehane, Trent Colwell, Cathleen Humphrey, and Ashlee Thomason.

Meanwhile, Director Cripps gave his monthly report on personnel to the board.

Those granted a leave of absence as requested are:
Rachel Desimone, Galen Brown, Sara Halliburton, Nadina Martel, and Leslie Parsley

Those who have resigned or retired are:
W.C. Braswell, resigned
Alexandra DiRaimo, resigned
Thelma Martin, retired
Rhonda Merriman, resigned
Denise Rutland, retired
Cynthia Wilson, retired
Tiffany Wheatley, resigned