Pulaski County Schools releases statement regarding its 2019-20 budget

Pulaski County Schools this evening released the following statement regarding its 2019-20 budget following a final work session at the school board office.

“Pulaski County Public Schools is happy to announce that the school board will be able to address the majority of its budget priorities for the next school year.  We are excited that our employees will receive a 3% pay increase while health insurance premiums remain at their current rate for the fourth consecutive year.  We are very glad that our bus driver salary scale can be revised in a way that better compensates these employees, who have what is perhaps the most difficult job in public education.  Finally, we are thrilled to begin addressing some of the safety concerns at our elementary schools with the creation of 2-3 school safety or additional resource officer positions.

“We would like to thank the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors for providing an additional $375,000 in school related funding for the 2019-2020 school year and appreciate the County Administrator, Jonathan Sweet, for making a public apology last week regarding the confusing and somewhat misleading resolution that was passed regarding the appropriation of this money.  Pulaski County Public Schools is grateful for all of the community and employee support that has been expressed during this budget season and now look forward to making next year a positive and successful educational experience for each student in Pulaski County.”

The Patriot will have more on the final school budget Wednesday, as well as a school system response to issues raised last week by the Board of Supervisors on subjects such as pupil-teacher ratio and more.