Classes in a small, financially struggling school district in northern Tennessee have been canceled until officials can find a way to generate more revenue.
Clay County Director of Schools Jerry Strong said the school board made the decision Thursday night after struggling with budget concerns for three years. He said the district doesn’t have enough money to pay for partially unfunded government mandates.
“Clay County’s inability to generate the revenue to offset the mandates is what’s caused this to come to a head,” he said. “The straw that broke the camel’s back was really the Affordable Care Act for us and it has made it very difficult for us to have our employees properly covered and meet the mandates of the law. That was going to require new revenue and the commission felt like they couldn’t do that through a tax increase.”
Strong said the county commission, which funds the schools, has declined to increase property taxes and a proposed wheel tax referendum vote won’t take place until March.
State Education Department spokeswoman Ashley Ball said Tennessee districts have on rare occasions gone past Oct. 1 without passing budgets in the past but have sorted things out quickly. She said the pressure of students missing school and staff not being paid tends to lead toward resolution.