Hart County Board of Education

Q&A Working Session Regarding 1% Staff Raises in the Budget 

Katrina England

Reporter

Hart Co. News Herald

The Hart County Board of Education met in a special called question and answer session regarding budgets on Monday, May 13 in the cafeteria of Hart County High School. 

Carrie Murray, Library Media Specialist at Munfordville School, was the first educator to address the Board.

“I’m a little overwhelmed,” said Murray. “I’m going to be honest, there are a lot of you here. I’ve heard from lots and lots of you…Three weeks ago, some teachers walked in my library…Each year, things happen and you hear some grumblings, and that’s what we do. We grumble a little bit.” 

Murray explained that one day a fellow teacher walked in and asked if she had heard that a 1% raise passed at the board meeting. 

“When we got together, it just came over all of us, and everyone started talking to each other and messaging each other, and the people who were initially scared aren’t scared anymore, because we don’t need to be,” said Murray. “We need to be a culture of Hart County, and I know you’ve heard #One%Hart, but we do need to be #OneHart.”

Murray read portions of a five page amendment that staff members had prepared, which detailed why 1% was not acceptable. 

“We want to feel valued, and we want educators to stay in Hart County,” said Murray. “We have vacancies in every school. Eighteen years ago, you had 1 job and 200 applicants. Now, you have a job and there’s hardly any applicants…That’s why we’re here. We want to change that. We want to be competitive with the other districts…We just want to find a better way.”

The floor was opened to staff, parents, and community members to ask questions or make public comments. 

“I am not a math person (but) in reality, for a person that’s making $40,000 – what is a 1% increase?” asked retired Munfordville teacher, Diana Forbis. “$400 on the year? It speaks for itself. I’m a retired teacher. I don’t have the floor. People know, my classroom came before my family, and I know the teachers in Hart County feel the same. They’re worth it. They deserve it. $400 a year – we should be ashamed.”

Finance Officer Chris Russell discussed raises as they pertain to SEEK funding and taxes. He also mentioned the SEEK forecast showed $650,000, which is what Russell presented to the Board, also asking the school nurse contract be paid out of that, too. 

For the April board meeting, Russell explained he had created what he called a menu, broken apart for them to choose how to use it, though he personally recommended a 2% raise across the board. 

“I will tell you it’s been on Facebook that I didn’t give the Board but 24 hours to review this information and forced them to make a quick decision,” said Russell. “The Board was invited to come and meet with me and Nathan (Smith) a month before that board meeting to give us ideas, what things they’d like to look at, and I only met with one board member, and that was after I put this together and they looked at it.”

“That’s still not impressive,” said Murray. “One month is still not enough time to make plans in a budget for these types of things…When it comes to teacher raises, I would think that would be an all year thing. We have calendar committees. Why do we not have a budget committee?…If Green County can work with this in the General Fund, why can’t we? We’re the only county that can’t do it?”

Russell explained that staff salaries total $17.5 million dollars. 

“I have a friend that’s a teacher’s aid, and we all know what a teacher’s aid does, because I would not do it for $13,000 a year,” said Murray. “When you start figuring what roughly 4% is for her…the 4% is laughable even for classified. It’s laughable. We need to start thinking about hourly raises for those people…We’re hearing you, but we don’t understand why we’re not trying to do something different because this is not working for us. When Green County has (is) 10% and Barren has 5%. Our gap is getting further and further as far as our salary schedules.” 

Additional attendees spoke to voice concerns and ask questions. 

“I’ve been employed with Hart County for 15 years,” said bus driver Jennifer Gravil, who explained that one of her children was the first child with Downs Syndrome to graduate from HCHS with an actual high school diploma. “Teachers need to be paid what they’re worth, and they’re not. That is my statement. My question is, as a bus driver…My annual yearly salary before anything is $15,000. That is with 15 years of experience on my pay. I also have one of the longest routes in the district…Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love my job…Everything across the board needs to be looked at. I am one of the 5 youngest drivers in our district. I’ll be 44-years-old. The majority of our drivers are retirement age or above…It’s my generation coming in, and I cannot live or expect someone to live off $15,000 a year…I worked 4 jobs, plus drove a school bus, plus did field trips and sports trips and everything in between I could do to keep my electric on. Things have got to change. We’re going to start our school year out short of drivers. We’re short of drivers now. When we have to have our superintendent on a school bus driving and our Director of Pupil Personnel as a bus monitor, that is not acceptable as bus drivers. We should have a reliable staff to get our kids to and from school safely, to get your children to and from sports complexes and field trips safely. I have watched Greg (Ard) tirelessly make sure he’s got trips covered and alter routes. It’s got to.” 

Community Member Barry Locke voiced disapproval over posts and comments on social media. 

“We’re all in this together. Let’s all work together,” said Locke. “Let’s not shoot the messenger…You have to work with the means you have. As I sit here tonight, I feel like there’s a little assisination going on.” 

Brian Mingus, with the Kentucky Education Association (KEA), was asked to provide insight.

“I can’t sit and tell you what other districts have done,” Mingus said. “What I can do is look at comparable sized districts.”

According to Mingus, schools with essentially the same number of staff, schools, and SEEK funding coming in are able to provide raises for staff. 

Mingus compared Hart County to other counties, and Hart was consistently lower at each step.

“Since there are counties around us that are (comparable), would you all as a board be willing to contact them to find out what they’re doing?” asked an unnamed member from the crowd. 

“We can only do with what we’ve got,” explained Russell. 

“I’m just here as a parent, but I have children who go to Bonnieville,” said Erica Butler, who expressed concern over the school’s ability to keep a middle grades math teacher. “Moving forward, something has got to change so that can even get teachers interested in applying for those jobs.”

Butler was interested in seeing the comparison of Central Office staff with neighboring counties, like Green County. Superintendent Nathan Smith explained that while none of the positions are what he called apples to apples, he did have comparisons. 

“I did reach out to Green County,” said Smith. “I do have comparisons to other districts.  Hart County has 16 exceptional certified staff members in the Central Office.  Elizabethtown Independent has 18 certified, Adair County has 18 certified, Monroe County has 16 certified, Taylor County has 20 certified. Yes, we do need to up certified and classified salaries (but) if it’s not there, I can’t put the district in a position where it can’t pay its bills.”

Time was given for additional comments and questions from those in attendance. 

“How can we afford to get this big nice building and all the stuff for sports like the turf and all that funding, but we can’t fund the educational side of the school,” asked Emma Murray. “You know – the whole point the kids go to school.”

Sheryl Shirley explained that funding for different things come from different pots of money, and someone from the crowd asked why the sports pots are bigger. The answer was that they are not. 

“Mr. Russell, I heard you say $17 million in teacher salaries, is that correct?” asked Whitney Choate, who then asked what the tax revenue was. “I would like to see what is our tax revenue and what is each building costing us?”

Russell explained to that effect that Green County has done a lot of consolidating, and that Hart County has a lot of buildings. Hart County has 5 elementary schools: Munfordville, Memorial, Legrande, Cub Run, Bonnieville, as well as one high school. 

Kristin Froedge explained that Green County’s buildings are within a 2 mile radius, while Hart County’s are spread out across the community. 

“I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong within the guts of this,” said Andrea Robertson. “I am an accountant. I understand numbers. They are my jam. If there is a budget committee, I would love to be on it. I’m not implying that anything is right or wrong, but I’ve done this in my career…In that, I would love to see where there’s a disconnect…We need to figure out where those gaps are.”

“I think this county has an issue that plugs into this that’s been going on for a few decades and maybe relates to the fact that we’ve got too many buildings, and I don’t think the buildings we have serve the purpose we should be serving,” said John Ross Lawler. “Personally, you look around at all these other school districts and you think, ‘Why are certain things like test scores higher? Why are their athletics better? Why do they have so many more programs?’ I think it all goes back to the fact that we do not have a middle school in this county. We’re one of maybe 6 or less districts in the entire state of Kentucky that does not have one. I’ve always been a believer that this county would be served best by 2 or 3 elementary (schools), a middle school, and a high school, for maybe 4 or 5 total buildings. From a budget standpoint, it’s a lot easier to work with…You don’t need 6 buildings, and the worse thing you could do is add a seventh with a middle school…If you had a high school, middle school, and 2 or 3 elementary schools, I think it would be much more manageable and there would be a lot more room in the budget for teacher raises, as well as more opportunities for our children.” 

In this scenario, 2 to 3 of Hart County’s elementary schools would have to close their doors, and those students would be transported to the next nearest school. 

Teresa Robertson, a 20-year Munfordville employee, explained that she now had another job because her husband had gotten sick, and they lost his income.  

“I need help. I work hard for you, and now I need you to work hard for me because I don’t know if I’m going to make it,” said Robertson. 

“I heard Brother Barry (Locke) say we were trying to assassinate somebody,” said Shelly Gibbons. “I am a Christian girl, and I’m not trying to assassinate anyone, but I think that it’s reasonable for me to ask for better pay for my family. I’m very blessed, and I’m very lucky that I have a husband that has another form of income and I’m able to support my family, but if not, I could not support myself and my son. I love my school. I love my people. I know we’re all here working for the same thing. I know our Board members are working for the same thing. I know you all don’t make much money. I used to be on City Council. I know what you make for the work you do, but we’ve got to do something, and I guess I just wanted to reiterate that this isn’t a personal attack on anyone, and I don’t think anybody in our group is trying to attack anyone. It’s just a problem we need to work together to fix.” 

“At the end of the day, the problem was the 1%,” said Larissa Trousdale. “You gave us 3 minutes…That’s insulting…I do know that even though funds come from a different place, there have been almost two years working on a turf project. Two years. Non-essential…We’re essential. You gave us three minutes.”

Maddie Underwood explained that this is her third year teaching kindergarten in the Hart County School District, and she still hasn’t met her starting salary from Caverna Independent Schools. 

“I would just appreciate if it could all be transparent,” said Angie Michael, who admitted she has encouraged her own daughter to not teach in Hart County due to salaries. “I love Hart County. Hart County will always be home, and I will stay at Legrande forever as long as they allow me to…Chris (Russell) keeps saying we have SEEK money and tax money. I also know we have Medicaid money coming in. We also have grant money coming in. I wrote over a million dollars in grants myself and brought into this district that paid salaries. There’s other money. I’m not saying it’s there now, but be transparent about what’s available.” 

Jennifer Sims expressed concern over the future of art programs when budget cuts are mentioned. 

Kristin Froedge explained that Central Office staff works on writing grants to help retain teachers. 

“Are you all okay with this?” asked Memorial teacher Shelly Carroll. “Are you okay with what this is doing to the county?…I don’t. I know most people in this room don’t, and I want to bet you don’t either. We’ve got to make a change.” 

Board Member Wesley Hodges thanked everyone for coming, and explained the reason salaries are lower is because raises weren’t given for several years, which makes Hart County salaries not equal with everyone else. He also invited the community to return to future board meetings. 

Tina Rutledge also thanked everyone for attending and said the concerns are one of the reasons she ran for her Board position. She also expressed a need to give more pay to both teachers and support staff. She disclosed the importance of being more efficient with spending. 

Munfordville Instructional Assistant Dena Tapia mentioned also looking into maternity leaves that do not touch the personal or sick days. She explained that after having to take days off during her recent pregnancy, she had to take no-pay days, and for many months her paycheck was $19. 

David Wiliams asked about a backchannel and asked where those in attendance could send questions if they had future concerns or questions beyond that meeting. Board members responded that individuals could email Chris Russell. 

Superintendent Smith explained he was onboard for coming up with a committee, but the district is also under a timeline. 

“It’s going to be daunting,” said Smith. “You’re looking at $30 million. You’re looking at programs that are special to some people…We can put together a committee, but this budget is due to the state at the end of this month.” 

“If less fortunate counties can do it, then we can, too,” said a member of the crowd.

“We need to discuss a plan because what I’ve heard tonight is that we don’t have a plan,” said Murray. “The money had to go somewhere. If the budget is not finalized, can you not go back in your budget and find it?…There was no work between three weeks ago and now to say ‘What can we do?’ other than the defense of ‘This is what we’ve got,’ and when we’re just defending what we’ve got and we’re not trying to see what could be better, that sets the tone for the rest of us educators in this room that nobody cares, and that’s just how it feels, and if that’s how I feel, then that’s how I feel. I can feel that way and like everyone of you, but at the end of the day when I put my Walmart cart together and I have to take certain things out…it’s a little insulting.”

Football coaching staff member Dylan Griffin spoke on the lack of concern for coaches and the upkeep of the football field, and discussed the long, middle of the night hours they put in on the field and the temperatures in their facilities. He also pointed out that Green County has three turf fields, and is still giving a 10% raise to teachers. 

“Do you know how many of your teachers and faculty members here have second jobs or have a side hustle just to make ends meet?” asked educator Amanda Wurtman, who then directed her attention to the football staff. “We’re not attacking you all. I hope you know that. We do those things, too. Nobody notices when we do it either.” 

Aimee Atwell asked how many teachers had second jobs, and asked those to stand. She announced she had three jobs and described that it was while she was a teacher with a Rank I. 

Tyler Holthouser explained that he desired to look into what could be done. Though he said he didn’t feel attacked, he stated that the meeting felt one-sided. He asked those in attendance to not leave thinking that everything had been fixed because there is a lot of work to be done to get to the point they should be now. 

“I just want to say that we have listened to you this evening,” said Board member Sheryl Shirley. “We have heard you…I hope that you see us up here as approachable people…To our teachers…if we could give you a huge raise, we would…We appreciate you all so much, and I know the last few weeks you have not felt that, and I apologize to you for that…We work with what we have. We work with what we’re given…It’s not that we wanted to give you the slap in the face of 1%…We’re working with what we have, and what we’re told we have…Your voices are heard. We will have to discuss a budget committee, and that is my guarantee to you, that we will discuss a budget committee…I want you all to leave here this evening, (and) I want you to feel like your voices are heard.” 

Last Wednesday, it was announced that the action item to approve a budget for the 2024-2025 school year had been removed from the agenda to be discussed at the regularly scheduled Board meeting last Thursday. It will be discussed and approved at a future special called meeting. The intent of this is to give the Superintendent and the Finance Officer necessary additional time to review the budget to potentially identify areas where additional funds may be allocated towards staff raises.