Board approves budget amendments, allocates Title II funds for TNTP support and OKs Chromebook purchase

The Cumberland County Board of Education approved multiple budget amendments, including a standalone vote to purchase Chromebooks and a Title II funds reallocation to pay a contract with TNTP for instructional support at the district’s two high schools.

During the financial report, the district’s Chief Operations/Financial officer reported year‑to‑date expenditures of $45,712,093.45 and revenues of $50,435,215.63, and warned that the district still had several months of expenditures remaining for the fiscal year. The officer also noted that the December sales‑tax receipts (reflected in the February report) are traditionally the highest month and cautioned that revenues may decline going forward.

Board members separated the Chromebook purchase from a bundle of other budget amendments so it would receive its own vote. The Chromebook amendment passed on a voice/roll call vote; one board member (Mister Van Winkle) recorded a no vote on the Chromebook item.

A separate vote approved a Title II budget amendment that will pay a TNTP contract providing English‑language arts and math coaching at Stone Memorial High School and Cumberland County High School. District administration said the TNTP arrangement had been included in the district’s e‑plan and approved by the Tennessee Department of Education but the district had not yet signed the contract. An administrator explained that Title II funds that were previously budgeted for professional development will be used to pay the TNTP contract instead of a separate PD line.

The board also approved bundling and adopting other budget amendments that were presented together. During discussion, members asked questions about tariffs and timing related to Chromebook pricing and whether the district should move some purchases from next year into the current fiscal year to avoid possible tariff costs; staff said vendor inventory and timing created some risk and that the district could temporarily use fund balance for those purchases.

During finance discussion the CFO later said the district’s second TISA (Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement) estimate came in about $80,000 lower than an earlier estimate, noting a corresponding ADMr decrease of roughly 10.9. She forwarded the estimate to board members.

Ending: The board approved the consent agenda and the budget amendments and asked staff to continue to monitor revenues, tariffs and the TISA estimate as the district finalizes year‑end finances.