Tennessee Governor Bill Lee will unveil details of his legislative agenda and proposed budget at the upcoming State of the State address.
One key topic is funding for schools.
The Tennessee Department of Education is rolling out a new funding formula for schools state-wide.
Saturday morning, Hamilton County School Board members and Hamilton County Commissioners came together to discuss how the new tools will impact our students.
Senator Bo Watson addressed both groups on the new funding formula for the 2023-2024 school year.
The goal of Saturday's meeting was to strategize and discuss how the new funding will be utilized.
Senator Watson said,
Now in Tennessee this year, we're starting a new formula for funding. The new funding formula really is focused on the individual child and not on the school system or the administration.
School Board Member Tiffanie Robinson, with District 4, says this new plan will replace the old budget.
The state in this past year rolled out a new funding formula for all school districts across the state called TISA. And that replaces the BEP formula, which has been in place for probably two to three decades.
The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement or TISA is to help prepare students and provide more resources to help them succeed.
Robinson says that the new formula is student-based no matter what school they attend.
"The focus is heavily on what are the funding needs of each individual child. And that funding formula follows the child from school to school."
Tiffanie went on to say, "The point of the funding is to also give a lot more autonomy to the principals and the administrators to determine how their funding is spent in their schools based on the needs of their student population."
Robinson says there is a lot more work to be done before the start of the new fiscal year, and the county is looking for a 45-million dollar increase in funding from the state.
TISA won't be funded until the start of the 2023 school years. So that means starting in August. So the school board is already reviewing the upcoming budget that now is formatted to this new funding model.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee first introduced this new funding formula back in February of 2022.
This is the first time since 1992, the education funding will be updated.