Sullivan Boe Plans To Ask For $4.8 Million In Additional Funding

BLOUNTVILLE — If Sullivan County’s school board asks the County Commission for more funding this year, board members acknowledge they may not get all or any of their request.But if the Board of Education doesn’t ask, it won’t get any.So board members have decided to ask for more operational money: $4.85 million.The board met in a work session Thursday evening that focused mostly on the 2015-16 budget.Even if the system uses $1.8 million of unassigned fund balance, calculations show that what the board wants to do would require about $4.85 million in additional funding to fund a budget.The current draft budget of $84,038,220 includes a 4 percent raise for all employees, which for teachers and other certificated personnel is covered by Tennessee dollars.Director of Schools Jubal Yennie said that is what was discussed in collaborative conferencing May 20 with teacher group representatives.