Oak Ridge Schools administration on Monday afternoon presented to the public a proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget that includes a 2.5% pay raise for all employees, including educators.

The 2.5% is less than the 4% raise for teachers requested by the Oak Ridge Education Association. In a separate request, school administrators had asked for a 2.5% to 3% raise for themselves.,

If the Oak Ridge Board of Education approves the budget proposal as it currently stands, all employees would get the 2.5% pay raise next school year along with step increases, if they are entitled to them, based upon years of service and education.

School Board Chairman Keys Fillauer pointed out, as he has at a recent meeting, that the state legislature approved a plan calling for all beginning teachers to make at least $50,000 a year by 2026 - but Oak Ridge's beginning teachers saw salaries of $50,000 this school year. This year's school budget saw an increase of at least 4% for all teachers.

The Fiscal Year 2025 school budget proposal, which was presented publicly at a special-called meeting Monday afternoon at the School Administration Building, includes the addition of 6.5 teaching positions to meet an upward swing in student enrollment that is expected to continue with expected industrial and residential growth in Oak Ridge. It also includes a contingency for more positions to be added if needed because of higher-than-projected student enrollment.

New positions and eliminated positions under the budget proposal:

• Two more teachers added at Woodland Elementary

• Two special education teachers added, one at Robertsville Middle, one at Oak Ridge High

• One special education teaching assistant added at Linden Elementary

• One district-wide English Language Learner teacher added; an ELL teaching assistant position eliminated

• One iSchools teacher added at ORHS

• A part-time Career Technical Education teaching assistant added

• Four innovation coaches added

• One executive director of student services added to administration

• One data technician and four instructional technology coaches eliminated.

The 26-page summary of the school system's academic achievements and key points in the proposed school budget states that student enrollment has grown from 4,657 in the 2018-19 school year to 5,064 this school year. Information on planned or existing housing and business projects indicate the city could grow by 2,000 households by 2030.

The city schools' leaders presented detailed information on the expected growth at a February meeting with Oak Ridge City Council. Oak Ridge Schools officials are recommending that a new elementary school be constructed on the west end of the city and additions and renovations be made to three of the elementary schools and two middle schools. The estimated $69.5 million price tag is not included in the proposed school system budget, as it expected to be a separate funding project of the city government and city schools, if it is done.

The proposed $84.3 million schools budget is 3.12% more than the current year's amended budget. The total cost of pay raises and step pay raises accounts for approximately $1.9 million in new expenses.

The proposed budget will need an estimated $2.8 million from the school system's undesignated and designated fund balances to pay for expenses. This will pull the unrestricted fund balance for Fiscal Year 2025 down to 10.12% of the regular general fund operating expenditures and operating transfers out. The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recommends that this not drop below 10%, according to the school system's presentation, for fear of causing cash flow problems.

"While fund balances are not a permanent solution; they can be used as a tool to deal with short-term revenue shortfalls," the school system officials stated in the presentation.

The school board will meet at 5 p.m. May 23 in the School Administration Building for a budget work session, line-by-line review of the budget proposal and first reading. The budget summary can be viewed by going to ortn.edu.

In addition to the full school board, city council Mayor Pro Tem Jim Dodson and members Chuck Hope and Ellen Smith attended the special called school board meeting.

The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at dsmith@oakridger.com and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed. Correspondent Carolyn Krause contributed to this story.

Support The Oak Ridger by subscribing. Offers available at https://subscribe.oakridger.com/offers.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: 2.5% pay raises included in Oak Ridge Schools proposed budget