Matthew Burnette, Staff Writer

The Coffee County School Board voted unanimously to approve extra pay for school employees that were excluded by Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Act that was passed earlier this year.

While the Act’s main focus was offering charter school scholarships to certain students under the Department of Education, there was also an added incentive of giving a $2,000 bonus to K-12 public school teachers in Tennessee.

“I won’t call it a bribe,” Board Chairman Thomas Ballard jokingly remarked about the State bonus while asking for a motion.

The vote came after a recommendation from Director of Schools Scott Hargrove to distribute extra pay for all employees who didn’t receive the state’s $2,000.

To qualify for the extra pay, employees must have completed the 2024-2025 school year and are currently employed by the Coffee County school system. Coffee County school employees who retired at the end of the 2024-2025 school year will also receive the extra pay.

Employees who started after the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year will receive $200 for each month of service through the month of May. Part-time Excellence employees will receive $1,000 in extra pay.

A budget amendment was voted on later in the meeting to move the $818,443.08 from various line items into the Schools’ Unassigned Fund Balance.

Both the budget amendment and the extra pay passed with a vote of 9-0.

The budget amendment will move forward to the full County Commission for approval. If approved, the school system is planning on distributing the extra pay before Christmas.

Board member Freda Jones noted that she wasn’t aware of any other school systems that were doing the same thing as Ballard concurred.

“We’re kind of setting a precedent here for everyone else,” he said. “A good precedent.”