Katelyn Nash choked on her words as she shared with the Franklin City Council a tough decision that may become a reality: withdrawing her children from Franklin schools.
A Franklin native, Nash went through the school system herself, but she said the schools’ inadequate funding has pushed her to consider other options.
“I see actually one of my school teachers here from when I was a kid … and some of my kids’ teachers are here,” she said, looking over her shoulder to a crowd of over a dozen residents. “They do an excellent job, and it’s impossible to think that they’re not supported by the city council.”
Palpable tensions permeated the council’s Wednesday meeting, when parents, teachers, coaches and residents pleaded with city leaders to make up for a $600,000 shortfall in the school district’s budget. The council voted to move discussion and final decision on the city budget to Monday to review an idea presented during public comment.
In early June, the school board proposed a $21.5 million budget that exceeded Franklin’s tax cap by over $2 million. Board members said this budget would keep the status quo of current services and positions at the district’s three schools.
The council instructed the school board to return with a tax-capped budget proposal. That $19.4 million budget came before the council Wednesday, a grand total that represents $600,000 less than the past school year’s operating budget.
“Mind you, this is not the choice of the whole city council, but it is enough to make their choice everyone’s choice — a choice that once again leaves the Franklin School District having to find the absolute limits of doing more with less,” said School Board Chair Liz Cote.
The tax-capped budget endangers several positions and programs: It could eliminate an art teacher, a music teacher, a computer teacher and over a dozen other positions across the three schools. The schools’ athletics program also hangs in the balance.
Shrinking staff has left remaining educators overburdened, according to teacher Briana Vandell.
Vandell is in her 21st year in the district and has taught from third grade to eighth grade. In a draft schedule for the upcoming school year, she is slated to teach three different grades in three different subjects.
“I will do it, absolutely, because that’s my job, and I love it and I can’t imagine myself doing anything else,” Vandell said. “But it’s going to be tough, and it’s not fair to those kids. They deserve more than that. They deserve so much more.”
Outside school buildings, some Franklin residents, including former Mayor Desiree McLaughlin, worry about how budget increases will burden people living on fixed incomes.
“I don’t believe that the tax cap language was developed by authors … who only wanted to serve one population,” she said. “I believe they wanted to serve all of the populations of Franklin, and there are quite a few, and they’re very diverse.”
Near the end of the public comment period came an idea: Nash suggested the council raise $510,509 in principal debt and $107,760 in interest debt outside the tax cap and increase the school budget by that same amount. City Manager Mitchell Kloewer said the idea was “novel” and hadn’t been considered before — but the city will need legal advice on how to proceed.
Franklin’s charter allows money to be moved outside of the cap for specific situations, and that strategy has historically been used for capital expenses or bond payments.
Money outside of the tax cap would represent an added cost to tax bills for the year. The exact impact on property taxpayers is still unknown.
“I’m compelled to advise caution, at least check with the lawyer,” said Councilor Al Warner. “I think it’s a great idea, and I applaud Ms. Nash for bringing that forward. But this is the kind of thing that, you know, we’ve consulted the lawyer a few times, that’s why we have that line in the budget.”
A motion to postpone discussion on moving the over $600,000 outside the tax cap to Aug. 3 passed in a 6-3 vote, with a unanimous vote to move all other budget discussion items to the same date.
Nash said she prides herself on finding solutions and hopes the council will move forward with this proposal next week.
“If the charter has any room for interpretation, where you can fund the school to their full capacity needs, I really think that it’s important to do so,” she said in the meeting.
This article has been updated to correct the amount of money from principle debt.
