Cumberland County Still at a Stalemate over Schools

The start of the school year in Cumberland County is still postponed indefinitely, as the board of education prods the county commission for millions more in funding.

Board member Robert Safdie says the county is trying to avoid a tax hike to make up a shortfall in the schools’ budget. County commissioners wanted school to start, anyway, on a temporary budget. But instead of beginning the year without the money to end it, the board voted to extend summer break 10 days ago.

“It’s very difficult to plan an operation of a school with the idea that everything will come out alright, just start school and let things land as they may.”

The board meets at a special-called meeting tonight to come up with a way for sports teams to practice, even though school isn’t in session. County commissioners will meet after that to find a budget figure that satisfies the school board. Cumberland County Mayor Brock Hill says he’ll keep the meeting going as long as it takes to come up with a budget figure.

With one of the lowest property taxes in the state, Hill says there is a need to raise rates. But he says the schools director has asked for as much as a 30-percent increase.

“We’re going to need to raise taxes a little bit. Things cost more and we have more children now. We have more schools that we need to pay the light bill on and all those simple kind of basic things.”

Hill says he hopes the standoff can be resolved in the next few days.

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Education says there’s no requirement to start school anytime soon. The district will still have to meet the required 180-days, but those can be made up in the spring. The state won’t begin withholding funding from the system unless the budget dispute lasts into October.