The Clay County School Board proposing a $13.9 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year after a review during Thursday night’s work session.
The budget includes a $900,000 shortfall. Finance Director Ashley White said that number includes additional positions that the school system might or might not need.
“Your local revenues been coming in good,” White said. “Hopefully, it still will. We have a maintenance of effort to maintain that, so we just budget like we have to for that, but hopefully that will still come in good. Hopefully, you’ll save that teacher, hopefully you’ll save that bus driver, hopefully, you’ll save that educational assistant, hopefully, those things will flow back through.”
The budget increases teacher salaries to $47,000. It also includes a 75-cent per hour raise for non-certified staff.
White said enrollment slightly dropped, causing the school system to receive less TISA funding.
“That was one of the big discussions we had last year about if we got over the 1,000 mark, we would lose that $300,000 that we are getting with a small school,” White said. “Well, we’re down to 982 now is what our TISA is based on, so it was 992, now it’s 982, so we are not gonna lose the $300,000, but we also don’t get that extra money for the students that we lost.”
White said the director’s pay scale will now honor years of experience. Chairman Benji Bailey said the board reevaluated the pay scale for the director position before Director of Schools Diana Monroe decided not to retire. Bailey said the director’s salary was lower compared to neighboring counties.
“A couple of things that we can do to at least make it competitive, and Ashley has already talked about the one, just making our salary schedule honor her experience through the 20 years like we do with everybody else,” Bailey said. “The other thing, previously, we have not honored Mrs. Monroe’s law degree. So if the board chose to honor that, then that would make her comparable to other counties around us.”
White said for the law degree to be honored, the board would need to pass a resolution.
The school board will vote to approve the budget Tuesday at 6pm.
