by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the April 5 workshop, the Franklin County School Board reviewed the proposed 2021–22 budget. The budget calls for a 2.5 percent cost of living wage increase for teachers, classified employees, and contract bus drivers. The board discussed allocating special education aides an even higher wage increase due to the demands of the position.

Assistant Superintendent Linda Foster said in addition to the cost-of-living increase, certified teachers would receive degree advancement wage increases, and increases based on years of service. The new years-of-service scale proposed by Foster includes an additional 2 percent raise for teachers who have served more than 20 years.

Foster also recommended an $11 per hour starting scale for teachers’ aides, slightly more than a 2.5 percent increase. Foster cited a possible federally mandated $15-per-hour minimum wage. “[Aides] are vastly underpaid,” Foster insisted.

Board member Sarah Marhevsky asked if special education aides should get paid even more. “More goes into those jobs,” Marhevsky said.

Director of Schools Stanley Bean said some school systems paid special education aids as much as $6,000 more annually. “Those people do the most difficult things in the school system,” Bean stressed, noting special education aides’ responsibilities included tasks like changing diapers. Bean suggested special education aides receive an additional $3,000 annually. Bean said money was available in the special education budget to cover the expense.

School board Vice Chair Lance Williams calculated an additional $2.50 per hour increase would mean a $3,500 annual increase. The board discussed the different responsibilities of different types of special education aides. Foster will consult with Supervisor of Exceptional Children’s Services Toby Guinn, to determine which special education aides should qualify for an additional wage increase. Foster said the wage increase would help to attract and retain staff for challenging positions.

The 2021–22 budget added one new permanent position, Foster said, an assistant principal to serve at all 11 elementary schools. In the past, the school system employed someone in that role who served primarily at Clark Memorial and Decherd elementary schools, the two elementary schools with the largest enrollment. In addition to assisting the regular principals, the assistant principal could assume the duties of a principal who took medical leave.

Bean said new temporary certified employees hired with Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds would serve in the Academy of Virtual Schools and as reading specialists. The federal ESSER funds can only be used for programs addressing learning loss caused by the pandemic and must be spent by 2024.

Foster’s proposed budget also included a slightly more than 2.5 percent increase for substitute teachers to $70 per day for noncertified substitutes and $90 per day for certified substitutes. “We’re having a terrible time finding substitutes,” Foster said. During the current school year, teachers were paid to teach classes during their planning period to cover for absent teachers.

Instructional wages at $14,586,899, “are the biggest budget line,” Foster said.

Reviewing the revenue picture, Franklin County Finance Director Andrea Smith projected the schools could expect approximately $180,000 additionally from property taxes. She cautioned, however, the as yet unknown state appraisal ratio could negatively impact property tax revenue as had happened in the past. On the positive side, Smith projected the schools would receive significantly more in local option sales tax than the budgeted figure of $5,359,609. “Based on collections year to date, we’re $500,000 over for the year,” Smith said. She attributed the growth to local spending and the county now collecting tax for online sales.

The draft budget shows expenses exceeding revenue by $852,971. According to Smith, this could decrease by as much as $500,000 if the sales tax figures hold. “When the economy is good, you know the revenue will be there,” she observed. Smith also predicted the year end fund balance (the amount the school system holds in reserve) would be greater than the budgeted figure, meaning the schools would be “starting the year in a better position.”