Knox County School Board passes revised $485M budget; programs continue with revisions

In a close vote, the Knox County Schools Board of Education approved a revised $484.5 million district budget at a special called meeting Monday evening.

The 5-4 vote allows Project GRAD, magnet school programs and the gifted and talented programs to continue — with revisions — for the 2018-19 school year.

Board members dissenting included Fugate, Gloria Deathridge, Jennifer Owen and Terry Hill.

The vote came after members briefly considered a $490 million proposal by board member Lynne Fugate that would have completely restored funding for threatened programs and granted teachers a 2 percent raise.

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Deathridge seconded Fugate’s motion, explaining it was time the board asked for more money.

“(That’s the) bottom line,” she said.

The board was up against a county-mandated May 1 deadline for a budget proposal.

McMillan: Bigger budget wasn't 'realistic'

But board member Mike McMillan countered that he didn’t believe Fugate’s proposal added up to a “realistic” budget and wasn’t confident the district would be able to find approximately $6 million more.

He also emphasized the weight of the looming deadline.

“I personally believe that to not approve something would be irresponsible,” McMillan said.

Fellow board member Tony Norman also opposed Fugate's motion, voicing support for Superintendent Bob Thomas’ redeveloped budget.

“I think it’s an act of good faith,” Norman said. “It’s a signal to our funding body … that we are really trying to live within our means.”

First budget prompted huge outcry

The district’s budget originally amounted to $483.3 million, with dramatic cuts proposed by Thomas that would have taken $1 million of district funds from Project GRAD, removed another $1 million given to magnet schools in the same communities benefiting from Project GRAD, and cut the number of gifted and talented coaches from 13 to eight.

More: Knox County School Board punts vote on budget, Project GRAD

Hundreds of community members, including parents, teachers and students, turned out at a school board meeting to protest the proposed cuts.

A revised budget was released Friday after the district was notified it would be receiving another $1.9 million from the state under its funding formula for public K-12 schools. Those monies were mitigated by an estimate in property tax collections that fell about $500,000 from initial projections.

The revisions included: $500,000 in district funds flagged for Project GRAD, continuations of magnet school allocations through a new district grant program, and retaining 10 gifted and talented coaches who will spend 100 percent of their time providing direct services to students.

Revised budget still endures criticism

Ahead of the board’s discussion and vote, members sat for more than 90 minutes as close to 20 community members railed at them with an encore of criticism about the highly controversial budget.

Teachers, administrators, parents and students — as young as fifth-graders — marched to the dais to express concern and air frustrations to district officials and the board about a redrawn budget they still don’t see as adequate or equitable, particularly for many of Knox County’s most vulnerable students.

Cheryl Burchett, a parent and teacher from Beaumont Magnet Academy, urged board members to reject the budget in front of them, explaining “we are still fostering these cuts on the backs of the lowest-income students.”

She recognized the urgent deadline hanging over the board but prioritized the need to continue redesigning the budget. While Burchett said she doesn’t know what would happen if the board didn’t pass a budget by its deadline, she was willing to find out.

“Let’s be the change for these students,” she said. “If we pass this budget, then nothing has changed and we’re back to where we were.”

Jessica Bocangel, whose son attends kindergarten at Beaumont Magnet Academy, also wasn’t impressed by the tweaks the district made to its budget, declaring “the solutions don’t seem too creative.”

Bocangel, who also addressed the board earlier this month, is firm that the budget still guts the district’s magnet program and is going to foster a sense of competition in schools that don’t have much funding to begin with.

The optics in the previously proposed budget were “horrific,” she told board members.

“The optics now, guys, they’re not any better,” Bocangel said, proposing that one outside-the-box solution to add to the district’s revenue might come in the form of charging fees to developers in the county as they build new houses.

Multiple speakers throughout the night echoed one another with their particular disappointment stemming from the district’s lack of transparency in its process of constructing a budget.

Norman termed it a “massive PR failure.”

School board member Owen drew applause from the audience upon decrying confronting Thomas and the board with what she called a district team that is “ineffective, inefficient and out of touch” with community needs.

The only way to get back on track is to “reconstitute the team,” Owen said, in the same way the district has at times looked at shaking up staff at schools that haven’t excelled.

“We should’ve never been put in this situation that we are in today,” Owen said.

One of the most emotional moments of the budget meeting played out before the board’s vote as a mother in the audience interrupted all board conversation with an outburst claiming “He’s (Thomas is) out of order. You’re all out of order.”

“My kids are not another number,” the mother continued. She added, “Greatness (does) come out of East Knoxville,” before she exited.

School board reacts to vote

Many of Thomas’ remarks about the budget hinged on the need to boost literacy within the district, as he fervently wants to avoid having any schools ranked among the bottom 40 percent in the state.

Currently, six of the district’s schools are listed as priority schools by the state Department of Education, according to Thomas and Chief Academic Officer Jon Rysewyk.

Among the greatest disparities within the district is what Thomas sees as the lack of academic achievement among at-risk students.

“Those children are not going to have a chance” if they’re not reading on grade level, he said.

Deathridge hammered district officials and her colleagues with the question of “why,” insisting that if the literacy programs the district has been facilitating for several years aren’t working, it’s up to the district to start looking into them.

“Something has to change,” Deathridge said after the meeting. “Something needs to be looked at, dissected and reevaluated.”

Neither Deathridge nor Fugate were surprised at the outcome of the night but remained certain the alternative $490 million budget would have been feasible and was worth a shot.

“If you don’t ask for what you need, nobody tends to offer it,” said Fugate, who is wrapping up her last year on the board.

Board Chairwoman Patti Bounds noted the upcoming budget has been “one of the most difficult decisions this board has had to make.”