News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Putnam Director of Schools Corby King said one word to describe how he feels about the new student funding formula passing Thursday: “optimistic.”
King said that the most recent estimate shows that the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement will bring an additional $14 million to the county schools. He said that funding means more opportunities.
“That means that we have to ask less of our local communities once this goes into effect,” King said. “There’s more money coming from the state. We can improve our teacher and staff salaries and benefits, which is a huge need and we all recognize that.”
King said that this also provides opportunities to expand classroom offerings, as well as catch up on some much-needed projects. He said that the funding formula will go into effect for the 2023-2024 school year.
Although it is an exciting day, King said that there are always some concerns when a change this major occurs. He said that it will be some time before they receive the guiding documents on spending and on the county’s final allocation numbers.
“Over the course of the next year, we will receive guidance documents on how districts should allocate additional funds generated by TISA,” King said. “In determining where to incorporate the additional funds into our existing budget, we will revamp our PCSS strategic plan to ensure our goals are aligned with our PCSS faculty, staff, and the community.”
