Putnam School Board Hopeful New Funding Formula Will Allow For More Teacher Raises

Putnam County School Board having to wait on new school funding formula numbers before they can have serious conversations about teacher salaries.

School Board Member Lynn McHenry said they all agree that teachers deserve higher salaries to help recruit and retain good employees. He said the difficult part comes from having to balance what they want to give with what they are financially able to do.

“That balance is a tough thing to do but we want to try and put more of that money into the classroom whenever we can, and that’s part of teacher salaries,” McHenry said. “So that’s what we’re working on trying to do.”

McHenry said they feel confident the new funding formula will allow for raises, but those numbers have not yet been confirmed. He said they are hopeful the numbers will be released in time for budget discussions with the next fiscal year.

Chair Kim Cravens said the school board is also looking at clarifying the pay scale. She said the move was first discussed at the January work session.

“Just because ours was a little complicated,” Cravens said. “I know that Corby and Tim Martin have been working diligently on that trying to get something that’s a little easier for our teachers to understand.”

Member Dawn Fry said they know teachers deserve the raise. She said while their hands are tied right now because of TISA, they will work to provide what they can for teachers.