From the Superintendent's Budget Memo...
"This has been a very difficult budget process, and we continue to labor to balance our budget based on what we expect to be near level funding for the second consecutive year. We continue to review our spending to ensure that we are matching our limited resources to our greatest instructional priorities. Our challenge is to offer a budget proposal that enables and supports our educational vision and five-year strategic plan, Excellence for All Children, while recognizing our limited financial means.
The Knox County school system is not immune to the difficult economic conditions that are impacting our community, our state, and our nation. As we have discussed publicly over the last several weeks, revenue forecasts for the coming fiscal year are not encouraging. Even though local and state leaders have expressed their strong desire to preserve funding for public education, we do not expect to see a significant increase in general fund dollars for the Knox County Schools in FY11.
This general fund budget proposal totals $379.91 million. It acknowledges our fiscal constraints, while supporting and maintaining key instructional investments, and also seeking to focus and align our resources around our most important educational priorities."