Budget includes teacher raises
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This surprised Bell, who had worked out a method to fund the entire teacher raise proposal from the school system, at least for the 2006-2007 budget.
Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale explained how this will work.
?What they?ve asked us to do is shift some funds, non-instructional categories, to instruction,? Hale said. ?The equivalent amount that would pay the raises, and then we?ll come back to the commission and they?ll issue capitol outlay notes for those categories, which they can do out of the money they have in debt service fund balance for those one-time orders. They can do it that way, so it?s just a budgetary transfer type situation.
?If they do that, then yes, there?ll be enough money there to take to the bargaining table the amount of money that was offered by the board,? Hale said.
The raises will provide $2,500 per year for teachers with a bachelor?s degree, and $2,000 for teachers with a master?s. Teachers with higher degrees will receive no raise other than the state funded 2 percent raise.
?I kind of got waylaid after the meeting,? Bell said. ?The teachers didn?t understand they?re getting the raise. The whole raise.?
Bell felt many teachers didn?t understand how the raises were going to be funded.
?They don?t understand how we?re going to do it,? Bell said, ?and I thought they understood. I should have said more.?
Hale pointed out the plan will have to go through the school board, and then be presented to the full county commission, which went into recess Monday and will meet again Thursday night to pass the school federal projects fund and the cafeteria fund which didn?t get addressed Monday due to the budget amendments.
?The board is meeting tomorrow night at 5:30 p.m.,? Hale said Tuesday. ?We?re moving it up a night so we can take it back to them Thursday. If all the i?s are dotted and the t?s are crossed and everything goes, then yes, the money will be there for the raises.?