CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Local school officials say they’re caught between the need to save money for expenses they see coming, and the pressure to spend for immediate needs.
Cleveland City Schools Director Rick Denning recently has said the city school system should set aside some money from its sales tax revenue for future capital projects.
“There are too many holes you can step into out there without a reserve,” Dr. Denning said recently at a meeting of the school board’s site committee.
He said the same thing at a school board meeting this week.
Last summer, voters approved a half-cent local sales tax increase to fund capital projects for the city government and the school system. That money is kept separate from other funds and cannot be spent on routine expenses such as salaries.
Dr. Denning suggested the school board set aside 10 percent of that sales tax revenue as a capital reserve fund and another 10 percent to keep up with technology changes.
His “guesstimate” is $75,000 for each of those items from the expected $750,000 in new sales tax revenue.
The board already has promised to repay city government for Arnold and Mayfield school bonds and to repay state bonds that are partially funding the Cleveland High School science wing.
The city system has a variety of needs. For instance, it will need to buy three buses in 2012, at an estimated total cost of $270,000.
Board member Dr. Murl Dirksen said if another 10 percent of the tax revenue is set aside for school buses, one year’s savings will not be enough for one school bus.
Board members also are talking about installing a wireless network, with the necessary Internet filters, so students could bring their own laptops to school and reduce the number of computers the system buys.
Board members suggested looking for other ways to save money and looking for more revenues as the economy improves.
The board plans to meet March 9 to consider the schools budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The City Council will hold its budget retreat in April.