Elementary art, music programs cut last year restored in Pulaski Co. budget, which includes 1% pay raise for all; superintendent to board: compensating tax rate won't cover the costs

Commonwealth-Journal, Somerset, May 25, 2017

County school personnel get 1% pay raises
Funding restored for some art and music programs in elementary schools
BY JANIE SLAVEN

The Pulaski County Board of Education met in special session Friday to approve a tentative budget for the upcoming school year.

With the final “working” budget not required to be approved until September, district finance officer Rebecca Wright delivered some good news with funding allocations allowing for the elementary art and music programs that were cut last year to be restored.

Board members also approved a one-percent, across-the-board raise for district employees for the first time in two years. It’s estimated the raise will amount to an average of $488 per year for teachers and cost the district a total of around $423,000.

Though all agreed the extra money is well deserved, the decision was one board members did not take lightly. The district has dipped into its contingency funds the last few years due to cuts in state funding that were paired mandated salary increases but has recovered enough that board members were considering going with the compensating rate when it comes time to set property tax rates this August.

But using the compensating rate (which generates roughly the same revenue as the prior year) won’t cover the cost of the new raise. Due in part to adding art and music back in, the district had been expected to further decrease the contingency by some $400,000.

Superintendent Steve Butcher noted that he wouldn’t recommend a raise that wasn’t across the board (both certified and classified staff).

Wright advised the board that the district could come out about even with a four-percent increase.

Wright estimated that the four-percent rate would generate about $800,000 more for the district than the compensating rate.

“It comes down to whether you feel like you’re going to force yourself into a tax increase,” vice chair Randy Emerson said. “As much as you want to give employees a raise…we’ve increased taxes the last four years to get to the point where we’re not burning our contingency.”

Wright advised that she couldn’t recommend approving the raise without a tax increase. “I think you’re setting yourself up for a pattern we’ve seen in the past that we don’t want to go back to,” she said.

Member Dana Whitis made the motion to approve the employee raises with a second from Dr. Rebekah Branscum.

The meeting closed with a reception for Emerson, who is resigning due to his moving to North Carolina for a new job with Duke Energy.

“Randy’s been very active in what he’s done for the board of education,” Supt. Butcher said in presenting Emerson with a plaque. “We appreciate all the hard work he’s done and all the good decisions he’s made. He’s been a pleasure to work with.”

Emerson said he appreciated his fellow board members as well as district staff. “I think we’ve worked well as a team,” he added.

Emerson’s seat was scheduled to be on the 2018 election ballot, regardless of his resignation.

State law requires the education commissioner to appoint within 90 days of the vacancy a successor to serve until the next General Election.