A discussion on the proposed budget for Hamilton County School became heated during Thursday’s school board meeting.
Hamilton County School’s proposed $674 million budget for the 2024-2025 school year includes $32 million for pay raises for teachers and school staffing. This increase could be given either by a five percent raise or a flat rate of $2,800. Additionally, the budget would add more money to the district’s staffing model, and a zero to 2.5 percent per certified employee pay step increase on the district’s salary schedule.
This change comes with an ask for the Hamilton County Commission to increase the amount of money that the school system receives from taxes.
The school board originally planned to vote on the budget earlier in the week, however the executive committee which consists of the superintendent and board chair, took it off the agenda to allow for more changes to be made. Superintendent Justin Robertson recommended pushing the vote to the board’s June 20 meeting.
Board member Ben Conner made a motion to add it back during Thursday’s meeting.
“A vote to not vote on this tonight, a vote to keep this off of the agenda is a vote to not have your voice heard for your constituents,” said Conner.
The motion to add the budget back to the agenda met resistance from board member Larry Grohn.
“We have an excellent superintendent who we just gave a pay raise to who is recommending to this board to remove this item,” said Grohn. “And the board, some people on this board, is not listening to the individual who they praised and we all gave a raise to. And we’re not going to listen to the advice of our chairperson and our superintendent. I’m sorry, I don’t understand that.”
Board member Karista Jones emphasized the need to have additional meetings to discuss how the board wants to pursue the budget if the voting date is going to be pushed back and that if there will be no discussions then she doesn’t want to hold another meeting.
“I want the public to understand and I hope my peers on this board understand that when you swore on the Bible, you swore to the people of Hamilton County, the state of Tennessee, and the district that elected you. So the loyalty goes both ways,” said Jones. “I’m not in the business of doing a dog and pony show with the county commission for a tenth year. I’m tired. I’m not a dog or a pony. I’m a human, and I’m tired.”
Board member Marco Perez agreed with needing a meeting to further discuss the budget and proposed a meeting on May 30.
The motion to add the budget back to the agenda failed in a 9-2 vote.
