FRANKLIN
At Thursday night’s meeting, the Franklin City School Board held a public hearing for the proposed budget. Superintendent Dr. Willie Bell and the board are hoping that City Council will provide the funds for an increase in salaries for faculty and staff.

Before the public hearing started, Bell gave his presentation.

The proposed budget allots $13,193,486 for the operating fund, $2,250,223 for the federal fund and $792,339 for the cafeteria fund. This is a 9.91 percent increase from last year’s budget in those areas.

The proposed budget also shows the expenditures by major classifications. According to the proposal, $9,871,366.22 will go to instruction, $492,117.03 will go to transportation, $641,203.42 will go to technology, $1,209,842.67 will go to operations and maintenance and $978,956.66 will go to administration.

The State Standards of Quality Revenue for FY16-17 will have an increase of $59,333.

Bell said that he is going to ask the city council to provide funds for a 3 percent raise for faculty and staff for the 2016-2017 school year. He is hoping the council will provide all of the 3 percent, as the state is not providing any funds for raises this year. The total amount for this 3 percent is $260,000.

He said that this raise will not only close the gap between Franklin City Public Schools and the top paying district of the neighboring localities, but will also help attract and retain quality teachers.

When Bell’s presentation was done, Chairwoman Edna King opened the public hearing.

Only one person spoke, FCPS teacher Patricia Rideout.

“Dr. Bell, I would like to thank you for this on behalf of teachers because I have been here seven years and I have seen us lose too many quality teachers to other divisions because of this exact reason,” she said.

“People have to look out for their families and they have bills to pay just like everybody else. I personally think in the last 11 years I have had a 3 percent raise, I have had a one in a half and a one in a half. That’s all in 11 years. If we are going to retain good teachers, we have go to improve this. I really appreciate this, and I know on behalf of everybody else, they will really appreciate this too.”

Anyone who did not make it to the public hearing but would like to voice their opinion, is encouraged to review the proposed budget which can be found at www.fcpsva.org, and contact Bell.