Menu
Dyer County hosts TSBA fall district meeting; boards discuss funding, teacher shortages, letter grades
RACHEL TOWNSEND
Managing Editor
The fall district meeting of the Tennessee School Board Association (TSBA) was held Tuesday evening, August 27, at Dyer County High School. The meeting marked the first to be held at Dyer County Schools in over a decade. Discussion was held on a wide range of topics including school funding, artificial intelligence, Fund Balance accounts, TSSAA policies, school letter grades, and teacher shortages.
The meeting was opened, and special guests were introduced by TSBA District Director Dr. Lee Carter, with additional presentations made by Ben Torres and Nolan Combs.
School districts present included Obion County, Dyer County, Dyersburg, Lake County, Gibson County Special, Bradford Special, Milan, Carroll County, and Huntington Special.
Awards and recognitions
A student achievement award was given to Gibson County Special School student Rayana Bhojanapalli.
Kerri Lannom received the School Volunteer Recognition Award.
Numerous board members were recognized with Boardmanship Awards for achieving levels 1-4.
Among numerous board members in varying counties, Keith Anderson was recognized for his service (Level III) to Dyer County Schools along with Dyersburg City Schools board members Whitney Allmon (Level III) and Carlos Doss (Level III).
School funding and MoE (Maintenance of Effort)
As discussed by Combs, school districts are reliant on city and county sales tax revenues to fund budgets. A question now being posed by the TSBA is whether counties and cities should be required to reimburse districts when those sales tax revenues fall short of fulfilling the maintenance of effort obligation.
Nolan says the repayment method, referred to as “true-up”, would allow districts to recover lost revenues in the following budget year. However, during a time of prolonged recession, Nolan says districts would be forced to rely on property tax revenues. He reminded board members that the “true-up” plan was not a request above current funding but a requirement to fulfill funding already committed by each district’s respective city and county governing bodies.
He noted that infrastructure needs for schools across Tennessee between 2022-2027 are expected to cost $9,793,765,297.
Fund Balance accounts
Torres and Combs both presented an alternative plan for executing capital projects through a fund separate from each district’s Fund Balance.
According to Torres, creating a separate education fund account where interest accumulated would remain with the school district while creating a fund for capital projects that would not negatively impact the Fund Balance. Noted by Torres, all interest accumulated in the Fund Balance goes to the respective city and county governing bodies of the district, with the exception of Special districts.
3rd-grade retention
In order to receive funding for English and Language Arts (ELA), Torres and Nolan say testing outcomes should move toward 70% proficiency. Over the course of three years, the gap must close by an additional 15% to qualify for funding. They informed board members this policy is early in implementation.
School letter grades
Torres says that data used to determine letter grades will be pulled from the prior year’s scores. He informed board members that schools scoring a D or F letter grade would be required to report to the state board. Letter grade scores are based on the following matrix: achievement, growth, college and career readiness, and growth for the bottom 25%.
Artificial intelligence
Nolan engaged board members in exercises to determine what events AI was deemed acceptable for teachers and students. With the rising use of AI, he encouraged board members and supervisors to take advantage of ethical ways to utilize the technology.
TSSAA
Torres noted potential changes to TSSAA policies that would allow students transferring from other districts to participate in sporting events without the yearlong hold currently required by TSSAA. The statewide debate is ongoing.
Teacher shortages
Nolan noted that while teacher shortages are a hot topic across the state, there is momentum building for the careers of young adults. He encouraged supervisors to be aware of how many teachers in their district are eligible for retirement as well as incoming talent who may be able to fulfill those roles.
He also noted that in a recent study, more parents vocalized that they would prefer their child not become an educator. This contrasts with surveys taken in 1969 where the overwhelming majority of parents were supportive of their children entering the education field. Board members discussed that these negative trends may be in part due to poor wages. It was also suggested by one board member that the catalyst behind the lack of pursuit in teaching for some students may be due to personal negative experiences associated with the school environment.