The Best They Could Do?

The Sumner County Commission met in another emergency session last night to discuss funding for a revised School Board budget.

The meeting began with Chairman Merrol Hyde recognizing Comm. Mike Akins.  Akins proposed a "voluntary donation fund" that would be used to benefit the schools. Comm. Jim Vaughn pointed out that the County already has a "voluntary fund" and so does not need another one.  It was agreed that the two funds would be combined and benefit the schools. 

Immediately following the approval of this supposedly serious proposal, there was silence.  Chairman Hyde indicated that if there were no further motions, the Commission would adjourn.  As he raised his gavel to end the meeting, Comm. Paul Decker sought recognition.  Decker proposed a 10 cent property tax increase dedicated to the schools. 

The motion was seconded and debated at length, but ultimately failed -- garnering only 8 votes. 

The meeting then went on well past 10:00.  Various proposals were debated and discussed to give the schools additional funds -- they needed $2.7 million to fully fund a budget they had revised on Thursday. 

Time after time, these proposals were rejected. 

Surprisingly, Comm. Jim Vaughn stated repeatedly that the people have spoken and they don't want more taxes.  This in spite of an overflow crowd of several hundred -- 99% of which indicated support for the schools budget and a tax increase -- for the second consecutive Monday.

Ultimately, the Commission pulled another accounting trick.  Last week, the Commission moved $2.2 million it had planned to spend on school capital projects (buildings and facilities) to school capital outlays (books, computers).  This time, the Commission moved another $800,000 from the capital fund dedicated to schools, this time moving it into the school system's general purpose budget.  Again, while this means some budget items, this time including salaries, can be met with these funds -- it also means that $800,000 in potential capital needs will go unmet. 

A Goode Question

Comm. Paul Goode spent considerable time questioning Finance Director David Lawing regarding the County's available reserves.  After reading off a long list of line items, Lawing reported a total reserve balance of $30 million.  Despite having such a healthy reserve balance, the Commission refused to spend a single dollar of reserves on the schools budget. 

What About Glen Kirby?

Gallatin resident Glen Kirby joined a chorus of current and former adult education students who spoke to the merits of the program. The School Board asked the County Commission to cover the cost of adult education this year, just as they had last year.  Kirby noted that he has two sons, one who graduate from UT and another soon to graduate from MTSU.  Kirby himself never graduated from high school, but through the adult education program, earned a GED and is now a college student.  The adult education program serves more than 1200 students each year.

A Free Ride for Freels?

After the meeting, Comm. Frank Freels hopped into an Emergengy Management vehicle and said he needed a ride.  It is not clear whether taxpayer-funded rides to and from County Commission meetings are the norm. 

What's next?

The School Board will meet and discuss what to do about the shortfall left by the County Commission.  It seems likely that cuts will need to be made, possibly including employees.  And, unless funds are found, the entire adult education staff will be unemployed.  School may start as early as Thursday, but could be delayed until Monday in order to accomodate class reallocations if teachers are laid off.