Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson presented a second-option budget for fiscal year 2025 to the school board Thursday at the finance committee meeting.
The $663-million budget puts just $18 million toward raising teacher salaries while cutting out a compensation study and plans to add staff in school buildings. Option 1, revealed May 9, had put $32 million toward these things.
Both budget proposals include raising the base teacher salary to $50,000, a cost of $3 million, which will be a state requirement in the fall of 2026.
Option 1 pitched teacher raises at 5 percent or $2,800, a cost of $20 million. Option 2 pitched teacher raises at 3 percent or $1,750, a cost of $12 million, and removes a $5-million compensation study and $1 million in added staffing.
“This is a tight budget year for the county in general,” Dr. Robertson said.
If the school board approves a budget in a June 20 vote, it will vote again that day to adopt a 3 percent raise or a flat $1,750 raise.
But board members Larry Grohn, Karitsa Jones and Gary Kuehn want to write an Option 3.
Mr. Grohn suggested a smaller increase for higher-paid employees, saving bigger increases for teachers who work directly in classrooms.
“That gap just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger,” he said. Mr. Grohn said he does not believe in across-the-board raises. He said they are a “disservice” to employees who are “doing most of the work,” those “right on the front lines, and I think that that’s where this board should put its focus,” he said.
“I will never present a budget that doesn’t provide every employee with a pay raise,” said Dr. Robertson. “That will have to come from y’all.”
“None of them are paid enough,” Dr. Robertson said.
“There could be a third option,” said Ms. Jones. “I struggle with across-the-board,” she said. She suggested that administrators “pass this time” on raises, giving them to teachers in classrooms dealing with children and their families eight to ten hours a day, she said.
“This is why I support a flat raise,” said board member Jill Black, who advocated that the raise should also apply to contract hourly employees such as cafeteria workers, bus drivers and substitute teachers.
“Technically, they also work for Hamilton County Schools,” she said.
At the end of May, Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp announced a $5-million, one-time line item to increase teacher salaries.
“This is front-end money,” Dr. Robertson said, which will open doors to even more money next year, he said.
The next $12 million will come from increases in Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) formula money, mostly for students with dyslexia and those learning English as a new language, said Chief Financial Officer Mary Ellen Heuton. The last $1 million comes from increased interest, she said.
Dr. Robertson said property reappraisals are the school system’s “best shot” at supplying that $5 million again in the coming years. A small amount would come from annual TISA growth, it was stated.
Finance committee Chairperson Marco Perez observed that new teachers will be offered $50,000 while three-year teachers remain at $50,000, for example.
“It will create some compression on the early stages of the salary schedule,” Dr. Robertson said.
Hamilton County Schools employs about 5,500 people, it was stated.
Dr. Robertson bragged that HCS added 500 new positions in schools last year, creating a 1:10 school-based adult-to-student ratio.
But board member Rhonda Thurman said these added positions are making across-the-board raises harder than ever.
“We’re creating this monster all year long,” she said. “We add to our bottom line every time.”
*Capital Maintenance*
As HCS relies on a one-time injection to correct base salaries, it relies on the same to catch up with capital maintenance.
“This is a legitimate concern,” Dr. Robertson said.
The County Commission removed $6 million for capital maintenance from last year’s budget and a bond will be issued in August, due to generate a $65 million injection for deferred maintenance. Dr. Robertson said the money will be spent over the next five years, mostly on new roofs and heating and air conditioning systems at eight to ten schools, he said, including a new roof at Sequoyah High School.
Mr. Kuehn said that the annual maintenance fund was depleted to zero in March. He worries about having nothing for “daily care” such as toilet repairs, he said.
“We haven’t neglected anything,” Dr. Robertson said. He said the $65 million will help schools limp toward the complete overhaul facilities plan, which consolidates several aging schools to lower total square footage and number of schools. He said that will lower the burden of deferred maintenance.
“That’s going to be savings every year,” he said.