Board urges county to consider repaying booster-club debts after Westmoreland principal’s plea

The Sumner County Board of Education voted unanimously Feb. 18 to approve a nonbinding resolution encouraging the Sumner County Commission to consider paying off outstanding athletic booster-club debt after Westmoreland High School Principal Rick Duffer described years of facility shortfalls and unpaid loans.

Duffer told the board that booster supporters borrowed to replace a condemned field house and to install lighting, and that the boosters still owe money on those projects. "We installed those at a cost of $67,000," he said, "and currently our baseball boosters still owe $49,000 on those lights." He said the school support organization had taken out loans and individual community members had cosigned notes in order to complete emergency repairs and a replacement field house.

Board discussion focused on what the resolution asks the commission to do and whether the board should request equal payments to other programs that had invested private funds. One board member moved to remove language asking the commission to allocate equal payments to programs that had not incurred debt. "I move to remove that language," the member said during debate; that amendment failed on roll call 7–4, keeping the paragraph in the resolution.

A second amendment to narrow the resolution to a single Westmoreland repayment (presented in debate as roughly $274,272) also failed, 9–2. After those procedural steps the main resolution was adopted by roll-call vote, recorded as unanimous.

Supporters said the resolution is a nonbinding request intended to start a conversation with the county about historical underinvestment and to encourage the commission to consider repayment options. "Let them at the county commission level discuss, debate and go through this process as they see fit," one board member said.

Opponents of the equal-payment language argued the county’s undesignated funds were limited and that asking for equalized payouts could make the request unrealistic. Several members urged a phased approach and recommended the education committee evaluate remaining requests for reimbursement.

The resolution is advisory: the board asked the commission to consider repaying listed booster debts and to weigh equitable treatment for programs that have invested private funds. The board did not appropriate county funds; the resolution asks the separate legislative body—the Sumner County Commission—to consider the matter.

What happens next: the resolution will be communicated to the Sumner County Commission for its consideration. The board also discussed referring broader prioritization and criteria for booster-debt reimbursement to the education committee for future recommendations.