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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
One of the main agenda items for Thursday’s Elizabethton City Board of Education meeting in the Mack Pierce Board Room at the Central Office at 5:30 pm will be the approval of the 2021-2022 school budget.

Some of the highlights of the new school year budget will include:
– The amount budgeted for BEP will be the April estimate.
– All certified and classified staff members will receive a step increase if eligible. An increase of three percent on base salaries has been budgeted.
– Retirement incentives are budgeted at $30,000.
– The Board will continue to pay 100 percent of individual dental and life insurance premiums for full-time employees.
– The Board will pay 100 percent of the individual medical insurance premiums for full-time employees electing the Standard, Limited, and CDHP Options. All other options and levels of coverage are funded similar to the 2021 calendar year.
– Medical insurance premiums are expected to have an increase of 2.5 percent in January 2022.
– Dental insurance premiums are estimated to increase 5.0 percent in January 2022.
-$92,000 has been budgeted for Capital Outlay from local funds. No Capital Outlay has been budgeted from the excess sales tax or reserved funds.
– Custodians and cooks will receive approximately a $1.00 per hour raise. Bus drivers will have a daily rate of $75.00. Substitute teachers will receive an increase of $5.00 per day.
– The school nutrition budget reflects free meals for all students for the 2021-2022 school year. Also, cooks will receive approximately $1.00 per hour raise.

The total amount of revenue to fund the $32,436,244 budget comes from $6,893,427 of local revenue, $16,027,198 of state revenue, $7,084,737 of federal revenue, $30,882 of operating transfers, and $2,400,000 from the City of Elizabethton.

Among the top expenditures for the 2021-2022 school year is $12,819,132 for regular instruction programs, $3,292,000 for Capital Outlay, and $2,656,882 for Special Education programs.

Other items up for board consideration will be to approve the creation of an E-Sports Gaming Program Instructor position to be funded and managed by the ECS Community Involvement Program.

The Board will also be looking at approving change orders for T.A. Dugger Jr. High School’s interior renovations and re-roofing projects that would result in a credit of $13,377.85.

Also, the BOE will look at approving an agreement between the Elizabethton City Schools and Deborah L. Curlee Communication Consultants, LLC, d/b/a Sidekick Therapy Partners to provide speech and language services for the school year 2021-2022.

Members of the CER Curriculum Review Team will be recognized. Team members include Laura Blevins, Amanda Righter, Kendra Cline, Janey White, Lindsey Kyker, Matthew Fox, Kristin White, Brennan Trent, Denise Hilton, and Brandi McCloud.