The Daily Tribune News – Bartow BOE votes 3 2 to keep tax rate

The Bartow County Board of Education Monday voted 3-2 to maintain its millage rate of 17.90, which has remained the same since 2009.

“Together we have worked to discuss [the millage rate], crunch numbers and try to make what we believe is the right decision for our school system as well as the community and even though it has been a struggle, [Chief Financial Officer Todd] Hooper and his staff and the principals and the directors watch over our budget very, very, carefully …,” Superintendent John Harper said during Monday’s BCBOE business session. “… We lowered [the millage rate] in 2009 and my desire is to keep it at 17.9 this school year.”

Board members John Howard and Anna Sullivan voted against maintaining the rate. Both cited two years of teacher and staff furloughs as well as decreasing the number of school system employees as main factors leading to their individual votes.

“As I have done in the last two years, the burden we have placed in the form of furloughs on our teachers, we’ve shortened the instructional day and we have chosen to cut programs and also we have cut coaching and staff …,” Howard said. “We also have put extra requirements of state testing on our teachers and the way we thank [teachers] is we furlough them seven days and we furlough staff 10 days.

“I’m just thinking we’re losing money every year and I think it’s time to go to the community for help so maybe we could get some of those furlough days back for the teachers.”

via The Daily Tribune News – Bartow BOE votes 3 2 to keep tax rate.