May 3, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
The Board of Education wants to give teachers and other certified personnel a $2,000 pay raise and is asking the county commission for sufficient funding to help make it happen.
During a brief special called meeting Friday morning, the Board approved a proposed budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year which includes pay raises for teachers and support staff.
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If approved, the actual local increase for the 225 teachers would be $1,200 each since the state is funding an $800 raise per teacher. The 200 non-certified staff members would get a $600 pay raise, all funded by local dollars.
The Board of Education plans to purchase Chrome Books for the 3rd through 5th grades for the new school year. Students from the 6th grade through high school already have Chrome Books. One new bus is usually purchased each year. The board plans to buy two buses next year along with a new work truck for the maintenance department. The total cost of the buses would be around $220,000. No new money would be needed to fund the extra bus, the work truck, or the Chrome Books. Sufficient funds can be shifted within the line items of the school budget to pay for them.
A total of $50,000 has been budgeted as incentive pay for teachers. According to Director Patrick Cripps, the money would be distributed as a bonus or reward money among deserving educators for going above and beyond their duties, such as writing grants, etc.
The proposed 2019-20 school budget comes to $24,235,000 including an expected increase in state BEP funding of almost $600,000.
The county commission’s budget committee will get its first look at the proposed spending plan for schools when it meets Wednesday night, May 8 at 5:00 p.m. at the courthouse.