School system gets extra $2.2M

The Warren County School System just got nearly $2.2 million richer.

Thanks to a new state education funding formula implemented this year by Gov. Phil Bredesen, Warren County is one of a number of Midstate school systems to receive extra money.

‘It’s a nice chunk of change,’ said Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale. ‘Of course there are things the law says the money has to be used for. It’s not just free money that we can do anything we want with.’

Under the old formula, Hale says Warren County received $23.65 million from the state. This year the school system is scheduled to get $25.83 million ‘ an increase of just under $2.2 million. It’s a 9.1 percent budget increase.

However, there are restrictions on how the money can be used and capital outlay projects are excluded. That means the county can’t devote the $2.1 million toward paying off the new Centertown School, for example.

‘It’s supposed to be used for your school improvement plan,’ said Hale. ‘The TEA (Tennessee Education Association) is already taking a stance that some of this money can be used for teacher raises so we’ll see how that plays out.’

The items the money can be used for includes: improving student-teacher ratio, tutoring, hiring a school attendance officer, buying new textbooks, and bolstering the English Language Learners program.

The extra money is part of a state-wide plan implemented by Bredesen to equalize and simplify the formula that calculates how Tennessee distributes school funds.

Rutherford County came out the biggest winner in the Midstate receiving right at $19 million in extra funding for an 18.4 percent increase. Rutherford County’s new budget is $121.98 million.