Bradley County Schools presents proposed FY26 budget, outlines raises, bonuses and capital projects

Ellen Cash, a presenter for Bradley County Schools, told the Bradley County Commission the district's Fund 141 (general purpose) budget and related plans during the commission meeting.

Cash said the state funding formula'the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA)'raised the base per student to $7,295, producing "new revenue of just above $2,000,000" in the March TISA projection and contributing to a state funding pool noted in her slides at about $75,000,000. She said salaries and benefits account for roughly 80% of Fund 141 spending.

The presentation included several near-term personnel and pay actions. Cash said the proposed package includes a 4% pay increase for all salaried positions (which she estimated at about $3.7 million) and a one-time, state-funded bonus the board intends to pass to staff. "We are using that one-time outcomes-based funding that is outside of TISA and we are going to give all positions a bonus," Cash said. She told the commission certified staff will receive a state-funded gross bonus on the August pay period and that classified staff and…