By Aundrea
Cline-Thomas
PULASKI,
Tenn. – A finance committee with the Giles County Commission approved the
budget for the school district, including provisions to dip into the district's
savings account and lay off dozens of teachers and staff.
The budget is
a sore subject in the county. At least 70 teachers and staff retired, resigned
or were laid off – many say without prior notice. The result will be larger
classes across the board. However, it's not expected to exceed state ratios.
"Our
student population has roughly dropped four to five hundred in the past five
years," Commissioner Tommy Beech explained.
Many say
students are leaving the district because there are job opportunities for their
parents in the county. State funds assigned to each child are no longer
available as a result. Add to that, what's only been described as an accounting
error.
"Some
honest mistakes were made that I don't think any money was missing,"
Director of Schools Tee Jackson explained. "But as we projected our fund
balance there wasn't quite as much there."
Not to
mention the cost of doing business, from the price of everything from books to
fuel is going up.
"My
wife's a teacher, she's an elementary school teacher," Beech said.
"We're always concerned."
That's why
Commissioners are looking at every line item closely.
"I guess
we're looking and the citizens are looking for more transparency," Beech
told Jackson. "You all have gone through a very hard struggle. We're going
through a hard struggle."
They asked
questions before taking a voting on how to allocate local tax dollars.
Commissioners approved the budget that included a decreased allocation from the
county that reflects the loss of students. It now goes to the full Commission
for a vote.
Both Commissioners and school leaders reiterated their confidence
in the upcoming school year.
School Board
member Don Storey has called for Jackson's retirement or resignation after
concerns over how the layoffs and overall budget cuts were handled.
When asked
Jackson did not answer if he would retire or resign but said the board knows
the cuts are a result of a majority of the budget being made up of salaries and
benefits.
