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Hickman County board renews membership in TSSE after presentation on state funding protections for small schools
Summary
The board approved continued membership in TSSE following a presentation by the association's executive director highlighting salary equity returns, recent hold‑harmless protection for Medicaid‑coded students, and the association's lobbying and litigation role for small rural districts.
The Hickman County Board of Education voted July 7 to continue membership in TSSE after a presentation from the group's executive director, who told the board the association works to protect small‑school funding in Tennessee and provides legal and legislative advocacy.
Marlon Davis, identifying himself as executive director for TSSE, described the group's history as an association of small rural districts that litigated for funding equity in the late 1980s and 1990s and later worked to add teacher salary equity into state funding models. Davis said Hickman County received a salary equity payment of $240,878 this year, and he cited that as an example of TSSE's work to protect small‑district dollars.
Davis also described state action on the definition of economically disadvantaged students and said TSSE successfully lobbied for a 75% hold‑harmless extension that prevented a cut tied to students coded as Medicaid free or reduced. He noted the district has 711 students with the Medicaid code in its counts and said the hold‑harmless action mitigated a potential funding loss; he cautioned the exact retained amount depends on cross‑coding and district detail.
Davis said TSSE dues for Hickman County are $3,293 on a sliding scale tied to average daily membership and argued continued membership gives small districts pooled legal and lobbying capacity. He also told the board TSSE monitors litigation such as a recent suit filed by another county challenging aspects of the small‑school funding treatment and said TSSE retains outside counsel (Donaldson Law Firm) for such work.
After the presentation the board approved continuing membership by roll call vote.
