While it has been the policy of the Board of Education not to engage in online discussions concerning the business of the Smith County School Systems, the time has come to address misinformation and set the record straight regarding the FY25 budget and the future of Smith County Schools.
The Board of Education acknowledges the struggles of many of the county’s departments. We understand and recognize the financial need of the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, Smith County Road Commission, and the Smith County Solid Waste. We support every effort by those and other county departments to obtain their much-needed funds and feel they are long overdue. Fortunately, the Board of Education is not requesting any funding that would divert funds away from those departments.
The Smith County Board of Education has a long-standing record of financial responsibility and excellence. In recent years, the Board of Education has been asked to lend money to Smith County Government due to the poor financial condition of the county. Taxpayers in this county saw an unprecedented property tax increase that we are all still feeling the impact of. Instead of finding other ways to increase revenue for the county, the Mayor and County Commission came directly to the taxpayer. Now, Mayor Jeff Mason wants you to believe that the county is doing well and the fund balance has increased, but in truth, the funds he is touting came right out of local tax payer pockets. And, they will soon be coming back for more. Without increased property taxes, the county would remain in the same poor financial condition it has been in for years.
In stark contrast to the financial condition of the county, the Board of Education has continued to grow their fund balance, secure additional revenue streams through grants and maximization of reimbursement from the State of Tennessee by utilizing credits for Career and Technical Education (CTE) students, and solid budgeting practices. The Board of Education follows a 5-year plan and knows the projected revenues for the Board of Education are going to continue to be a sustainable source of funding for the raises and benefits we have included in the FY25 budget.
We have not asked the county for any additional funds in at least 15 years and despite that, today the Board of Education has a historic fund balance. We have secured an estimated $20M in grant funds which has allowed our system to focus on updating technology, building maintenance, new and upgraded facilities, and better safety and security for our students. Director Smith and the Board of Education is very proud of that. Can you imagine trying to run your household off the same money you earned 15 years ago at today’s prices? The Board of Education is doing just that and will continue to maintain every resource available to us and continue to gather revenue streams to decrease reliance on local funding. In fact, the Board of Education has offered to the assist the county in writing grants and offered other resources, but those offers have gone without response from the county.
In his recent Facebook post, Mayor Jeff Mason attacked the Board of Education stating we should operate on “real numbers” and openly criticized the Board of Education for coming in $2 Million UNDER budget last year. He should be applauding that level of financial responsibility instead of complaining that all the money wasn’t spent. Any money the Board of Education doesn’t spend goes back into the Board of Education’s fund balance; it doesn’t go to the county, which is an often-misunderstood fact by commissioners and tax payers alike. By statue, the county cannot spend or encumber the Board of Education’s money. They simply have the administrative duty of approving the budget. Whether the Board of Education has $2 million, $4 million, or $100 left at the end of the fiscal year, it has no impact on what can be spent by the county.
On May 18, 2023, Gov. Bill Lee signed HB-0329 into law mandating starting teacher pay be no less than $50,000 per year by the 2026-2027 school year. This law was effective July 1, 2023. Additionally, the new law mandated immediate changes to the state salary schedule for teachers and established a base salary that is no less than (1) $42,000 for the 2023-2024 school year; (2) $44,500 for the 2024-2025 school year, (3) $47,000 for the 2025-2026 school year, (4) $50,000 for the 2026-2027 school year.
The salary increases that have been approved by the Board of Education and included in our FY25 budget are a result of this legislation and trying to be ensure that Smith County teachers are not only earning more than the state minimum, but that we remain competitive with the counties around us so that we are not only recruiting new talent, but also retaining our most seasoned educators. The ongoing budget frustrations have caused the school system to lose teachers and non-certified positions, including those much-needed personnel in our Special Education Department and those who care for our special education students.
Mayor Mason and various County Commissioners have repeatedly referred to “fluff” or “padding” in the Board of Education’s budget. This is a patently false statement and demonstrates their general lack of understanding of the Board of Education budget. As a result of the state legislation mentioned above, the Board of Education gave a 12% raise to all employees in August 2023. Those raises were not included in the FY24 Budget salary line item because the legislation that precipitated those raises was not effective at the time the budget was approved by the County Commission. In the FY25 budget, those 12% raises are included, plus an additional raise of 10% for an effective increase of 22%. The “simple math” Mayor Mason references does not work when it he is calculating numbers he doesn’t understand. The “fluff” that has been repeatedly referred to is an estimated $1.298M in the FY24 budget, which means that the Board of Education was 96.1% accurate with their budget projections. The “fluff” is less than 4% of the Board of Education’s total budget.
It has also been suggested if this budget fails, that the Board of Education should come back next month and ask for the raises and the benefits as a budget amendment. Whether we ask now or a month from now, the money the Board of Education would be spending is the same money requested in the FY25 budget. To pretend otherwise is very deceptive to our community.
The Mayor also told taxpayers the County Commission cannot “line item” the Board of Education’s budget, but then gives a protracted explanation that does just that. He has made similar line itemizations statements in budget meetings. In an email to Smith County Schools Chief Financial Officer, Norma Mitchell, on July 10, 2024, Mayor Mason stated, “Now during the budget meeting on June 17th it was discussed cutting 1.8 million dollars out of the salary line 71100.” In that same email to Ms. Mitchell, stated he was not motivated by what Director Smith thinks and shamefully referred to budget discussions as a “pissing contest.”
The Board of Education has made every effort to include the County Commissioners and Mayor Mason in every budget meeting and work session the Board of Education has had on our budget. Mayor Mason hasn’t attended any of those meetings and less than five (5) of the twenty-four (24) County Commissioners have attended. We applaud those Commissioners who have come to the meetings, asked questions, and made phone calls. We sincerely appreciate their interest and efforts to understand the Board’s position and they should be commended for the time they have spent with the Board of Education.
Another important part of the FY25 Budget is health insurance benefits for full-time, non-certified employees. Those employees are currently eligible for coverage, but for most employees it is cost prohibitive. Often their salaries fall short of the cost of the coverage each month. In some cases, it has taken an employee’s entire earnings to pay for those benefits. In 2014, due the unaffordability of the benefits, the Board made the difficult decision to pay the penalty assessed as a part of the Affordable Care Act rather than absorbing the cost of the benefits. This has resulted in a finding each year against the Board of Education by the comptroller’s office. In a special committee meeting with Mayor Mason and other commissioners, Director Smith was asked to eliminate all comptroller findings. At an estimated annual cost of $1.6M, those benefits were added to the FY25 budget.
Our track record of financial responsibility is without reproach. We have been excellent stewards of federal, state, and local dollars. This is a similar budget to those presented to the County Commission for the last ten (10) years or more, aside from adjustments for capital outlay, cost of living increases, and inflation. The only notable difference in this year’s budget is the salary increases and benefits for full-time, non-certified employees. It is disappointing we have had to reach this level of advocacy to get a budget approved that doesn’t ask the county for anything but a basic understanding of our budget.