Dr. Martin Ringstaff, director of Cleveland City SchoolsCLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Cleveland Board of Education on Wednesday approved a $38.9 million budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year that begins July 1.
The budget includes a 3 percent raise for all employees and step increases for those who qualify.
"We have tried to be frugal down the line," schools Director Martin Ringstaff told board members in a special session. "We put a priority to giving raises."
The proposal, a 2 percent increase over the current budget, now goes to the City Council for approval, along with budgets from all other city government departments.
The pay increase is contingent on the state Legislature approving Gov. Bill Haslam's proposed budget with a 2.5 percent increase, Ringstaff said. The city system is adding one-half percent to Haslam's proposed raise.
The city schools' addition to the state proposal is made possible by an increase in local sales tax revenue and an increase in school funding from the county's property tax, Finance Director Brenda Carson said. The city government plans no increase in school funding.
The proposed budget does not include federal grants that come in during the year. Those will be amended into the budget later because such conservative budgeting is safer, Carson said.
"I don't believe it until I see it," she said.
Before the budget session, the board's Site Committee discussed the location of its next elementary school.
Paul Ramsey, from the school system staff, and city staff members have been comparing the current city airport site -- a new airport is under construction at another location -- to the board's preferred site on Hardwick Farms.
Issues and costs at the airport site include removal of fuel tanks, asphalt, hangars, underground wiring for runway lights, drainage problems and road improvements, Ramsey said.
The group believes a school could be built only in the center of the airport property, limiting the remaining property's value to the city for future development.
The committee agreed it should meet with airport authority representatives ahead of a joint meeting, tentatively set March 14, involving city and county school boards and city and county government.