Hamilton County Schools are facing major budget reductions, Superintendent Justin Robertson said.
They include in exceptional education, in the central office, and eliminating magnet school transportation.
Dr. Robertson said local funding did not come in as expected, and the district is facing a number of high cost increases.
His memo says:
I want to start by thanking each of you for the work you're doing each and every day. Maintaining my commitment to collaboration and transparency and as we head into this week's Board Finance Committee meeting, I want to provide staff with a clear overview of how our annual staffing and budget planning processes work, including what drives staffing changes from year to year and how we're approaching budget decisions for the upcoming school year.
Each spring, schools may see shifts in staffing based on enrollment, student needs, and the strategic funding decisions made by their leadership teams. Separately, district-wide budget considerations guide decisions about how we invest available funds across the system. While these conversations can be challenging, our focus remains on protecting school based positions as much as possible and ensuring our resources are aligned to student needs.
This year's funding landscape is particularly challenging. Rising costs-especially in areas like healthcare and operational expenses-have outpaced revenue growth, requiring us to make difficult decisions in order to maintain a balanced budget. Each of these decisions was rooted in our values and commitments, and prioritized student needs. However, sustaining the level of support our students and staff deserve will require future revenue growth that aligns with the rising cost of delivering high-quality public education. Without it, we will continue to face increasingly difficult trade-offs that directly impact our students, staff, and families.
The Q&A below outlines the annual staffing and budgeting processes, our priorities in this year's budget, and what staff can expect in the weeks ahead.
Q: How does our district's staffing model work?
A: Each year, school staffing is based on how many students are enrolled and their specific needs. Every school, through the base model, gets a set of staff to support core operations, such as principals, teachers, counselors, nurses, and others. Beyond that, schools also receive strategic staffing funds which are tied to their student population. Students who are economically disadvantaged, ENL or Ex Ed are allocated more funding to help their schools provide necessary support. Principals and school leadership teams have the flexibility to decide in collaboration with staff, families, and students how to use those funds in the way that best serves their school community, whether that means hiring additional teachers or specialists, dedicated family and community engagement staff, or even student well-being supports such as nurse practitioners.
Q: How does the district determine staffing each year, and what happens if enrollment changes?
A: We start building each school's staffing model in the early spring for the following school year. The early start gives principals time to make thoughtful decisions about how to use their strategic funds to meet student needs and allows the district to support internal transfers as early as possible. The model is based on enrollment and student need projections, which we calculate using a four-year average of each school's actual enrollment and student needs. Of course, things can shift between spring and the start of school, so we keep monitoring enrollment all through the summer and into August. If a school's enrollment ends up higher than projected, we add the staff they need. Since we began staffing schools this way, our projections have allowed us to staff schools above their actual enrollment.
Q: How are budget cuts different from the staffing model changes?
A: Staffing changes happen every year and are based on projected enrollment and the specific needs of students in each school, not on how much money is available in the overall district budget. These shifts help make sure resources follow students, and each school has what it needs to serve its current student body. Budget cuts, on the other hand, are district wide funding decisions that affect how many positions and programs we can afford to keep across the entire system. This year, because of rising operational and healthcare costs and slower revenue growth, we're having to make tough choices, but staffing model adjustments would still happen even in a year without budget cuts. The two processes are separate, even though they're happening at the same time.
Q: How is the district funded and what is causing this year's challenging funding landscape?
A: To get a quick overview of how the district is funded, you can watch this explainer video. The district receives a significant majority of its funding from the state and local level. The state provides funding through the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) funding formula, while at the local level, we receive a funding allocation based on property and sales tax revenue. Each year, Hamilton County Government provides an estimated local revenue projection, which-along with state funding-helps the HCS Administration and the School Board guide the development of the district's budget. That budget is then reviewed and approved by the Hamilton County Commission.
For FY25, local revenues did not come in at the approved levels, resulting in a gap that HCS is responsible for addressing. As we approached planning for FY26, we also faced significant cost increases, including a $12.5 million rise in healthcare costs, escalating contract expenses, and inflation-related pressures. In total, the district needed to identify between $16.5 and $18.5 million in reductions as the first step in the budgeting process. While these financial realities are difficult, we remain committed to transparency, collaboration, and student-centered budgeting-and we deeply appreciate the ongoing partnership of our county leaders and community as we work through these challenges together.
Q: What is the district prioritizing in their recommendations to the School Board on the budget this year?
A: Even in a challenging budget year, we're focused on keeping students at the center. According to feedback we received throughout the year, the priorities of our Board, district leaders, staff, and families were aligned. As such, this year's budget recommendations prioritize preserving school-based staffing positions and current class sizes, safe-and secure schools, and excellent benefits options for staff.
To maintain this focus, we're recommending deeper reductions at the Central Office level. While the staffing model resulted in a 2% reduction of school-based staff, we are proposing cuts 3x that size at Central Office - specifically, a 7.5% Central Office staff reduction representing $3 million in cost reductions. We're also recommending a reinvestment in areas of high need. For example, the Exceptional Education staffing model shift reduced operational costs by $1.6 million, and we are proposing to use those dollars to double the number ofBCBAs, RBTs, and roving BAs across the district - these are staff who provide critical support for students with specialized behavior needs. The goal is to make sound financial decisions that protect the growth and success already happening in our schools and classrooms.
Q: What are some of the budget cut recommendations that staff should be prepared to hear about?
A: While we have worked to protect core investments in students and schools, with even a 1% pay increase across all employees costing the district around $4 million, this proposal does not include compensation increases for all employees. Additionally, though the Board will consider accepting the $2,000 bonus from the Tennessee Department of Education, these funds will, unfortunately, not apply to all staff. It is important to recognize that the eligibility criteria for receiving these dollars is not up to Hamilton County Schools, but has been set at the state level by TDOE. Matching the $2,000 bonus for non-eligible employees would cost the district somewhere between $4-6 million.
The budget proposal also includes reductions such as eliminating magnet school transportation and minimally increasing employee benefit contributions. These decisions were made with deep consideration and only after exploring all viable alternatives. Additionally, there may be a discussion about decreasing school-based well-being staff, including Instructional Coaches, Student Support Coaches, School Counselors, and School Social Workers. In providing recommendations on reducing school-based well-being staff, the district made sure to prioritize all students' ability to maintain access to these supports by focusing the adjustments on small schools and preserving adult-to-student ratios, resulting in a much smaller position reduction than what was initially discussed with School Board members.
Ultimately, each of these decisions reflects difficult fiscal realities, not a change in our commitment to those we serve. If funding conditions improve, these are the first areas we are prepared to revisit.
Q: Why are we already hearing about reductions in some roles, such as Exceptional Education? Are these staffing changes related to budget cuts?
A: We understand why these changes are raising questions, especially during budget season, but the shifts in Exceptional Education staffing are not related to budget cuts. This year, we are moving from a headcount-based ExEd staffing model to one based on the number of service hours in students' IEPs, meaning staffing is now more closely aligned to what each student needs. Additionally, this staffing model shift allowed us to preserve more certified ExEd teaching positions than we would have under the former model. These changes are part of our regular enrollment- and needs-based staffing process and would have occurred even without budget cuts. We want to reiterate that releasing the staffing model early in the Spring semester is what allows the district and school leaders to ensure schools are staffed for the following school year as early as possible - a priority we have consistently aligned on with our staff. This timeline is even more important for hard-to-staff positions and positions that work with our highest-needs students, which includes both certified and classified Exceptional Education positions. We recognize the rollout of this change could have been clearer, and we're committed to improving how we communicate about staffing decisions moving forward. While staff positions may shift from one school to another due to enrollment and need, it's important to understand we continue to have available roles for all qualified ExEd staff. If you are an Exceptional Education staff member who has questions or needs additional support in navigating this transition, please reach out to our HR team by emailing humanresources@hcde.org.
Q: What can we expect going forward?
A: First and foremost, we will continue to keep you informed. This Q&A has been posted to our website and we invite you to submit additional questions so that we can continue adding information and responding to your concerns.
This week's Finance Committee meeting will be held Thursday, April 10, at 5:30 p.m. You're welcome to follow along online or attend in person in the Board Room at Central Office. At the April 17 School Board meeting, the district will present a proposed budget designed to reflect our shared commitments: advancing the goals of our strategic plan, being responsible stewards of public funds, and prioritizing school-level resources that directly impact students. The School Board is scheduled to vote on the final budget at its May 8 meeting.
While some changes will be challenging, our decisions are grounded in our values, our core beliefs, and our just cause: that all students thrive and experience a future without limits. We'll continue to share updates throughout the process.