Bedford County School Superintendent Tammy Garrett shared with County Commissioners Tuesday that the system continues to remain in the “advancing” status within the state report card.
Please see the Jan. 22 edition of the T-G for more information about student progress, etc.
After delivering a lot of good testing news, Garrett was asked a lot of questions from the Commission floor about the financial and physical state of the school system.
Commissioner Greg Vick first thanked Garrett for an “excellent” report card. He asked her if she foresees the need for a new school now (eventually, immediately, sooner, rather than later) based on what she’s hearing.
Vick also asked Garrett what types of new schools will be needed to accommodate future student growth.
Garrett said, “I think in education, it is a time that there are a lot of considerations, besides growth. There are a lot of choices that Tennesseans have right now in education.”
The superintendent added, “We are down about 230 students from last year. We saw a steady increase of about 2% until Vouchers took place . . . lack of accountability measures for some home school students.”
She said while some homeschoolers are accountable and do what is expected, others in society do not. These are not being held accountable, advised the school superintendent.
As for a new school, she said the Bedford County Board of Education is currently not in dire need. However, a 5-year/10-year plan has been designed by the school board, advised Garrett, which does include a future new high school at the Liberty site, where the County already owns land.
“If you look at our current structure, I do think it says it will be 15 years before we can afford another school. We would need a plan in order to fund that . . . where we stand. I do think we have a lot to look at before we can determine and move forward with that, because of where we are with vouchers, home schools, virtual schools and that kind of thing.”
Bedford County Mayor Chad Graham asked Garrett about a potential growth stall in student population. He asked the superintendent if she believes a local student population drop and other factors might affect future budgets.
“Absolutely, if you remember, this is the last year that we have coming up in our next budget year . . . hit the salary minimum of 50,000. So, we know going into that, we will have a 4.12 minimum increase in order to meet that new state law that we have to hit 50,000 by next year.”
Tennessee counties are required to increase teacher salaries to a minimum of $50,000 by the 2026-2027 school year. It’s known as HB 0329, signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee on May 18, 2023. This increase was anticipated as placing TN schools in the top 10 rung across the state, regarding teacher pay.
“As we know, we had a huge increase in our insurance and for our property and those kinds of things-about 16%-if I remember that correctly. But we do have an impact of those 230 students, because as you know, we’re paid on a per student basis, and as needed basis, based on what the student needs.”
She added, “What we do know is that for one year, they will hold harmless. We will not get any extra money, if we go down. But we wouldn’t have any less than what we have this year.”
She said no doubt it will be a tight budget year.
“We’ve got to look at ways to increase the funding of education,” said Garrett.
She deferred to Robert Daniel, County financial director, when she talked about how the local portion of student funding has not increased in several years. She said without TISA (state funding), the school system would be in “really bad shape.”
“Mr. [John] Boutwell has told us many times, we’re one of two counties in the state of Tennessee that puts in the minimum . . . . [per pupil funding.]”
As a member of the County Financial Management Committee, Garrett said it is her hope a plan of good stewardship can be developed that helps the County maintain future growth and build good school facilities in the future.
Commissioner John Boutwell asked her about federal funding.
Garrett said over the last 5 years, federal funding has continued to decrease.
“One of the challenges that we’ve [had] over the last few years is that we haven’t met the federal mandate for English as a Second Language (ESL.) We’ve had to hire 41 teachers to meet that mandate over the last couple of years. If you think about 41 teachers, salary of a teacher and benefits, that’s a great increase. That has had a significant impact on our budget. But our funding, federally, has continued to decrease.”
Mayor Graham talked about thousands in public funding being lost to other sources due to the voucher program. The mayor said it’s a lot of money lost that has to be absorbed in other ways.
Garrett said last count; there were 139 voucher applications from Bedford County.
“Again, those funds will be directed to another source rather than coming into our school system?” the mayor asked.
“That’s correct,” replied Garrett.
Parents in Tennessee can utilize tax dollars to fund their voucher program through the Education Freedom Scholarship (EFS) program. The parents must meet eligibility and fill out an application.
“We definitely have challenges ahead,” advised Graham.
The mayor and school superintendent have previously announced they are not planning to seek another term for their respective offices.