Williamson County committee approves reclassification for four special‑education buses and a $15.9M school security technology request

The Williamson County Budget Committee on May 4 approved two school-related budget items: a $659,848 reclassification to pay for four special‑education growth buses and an intent‑to‑fund request for $15,893,000 for district security and technology needs.

Jason Golden, who approached the podium to explain the school items, said the four buses had already been purchased from the general purpose school fund. He told the committee that county and school finance staff concluded the purchases could be paid from the education impact fee because the buses are growth‑related for special education. "This could be paid out of the impact fee for growth because these are growth buses for special education," Golden said, explaining that the reclassification would restore roughly $659,848 to the general fund balance.

Golden also described the security and technology request as an annual capital need, noting the bulk of the $15.893 million—approximately $12 million—is the third year of a three‑year project to install fob access on locked doors across school buildings. "The bulk of this is about $12,000,000 includes the third year of our 3 year project to fob every locked door in all our school buildings," he said, adding that the remainder of the request covers cybersecurity work and replacement of aging cameras.

Committee members asked for project specifics and Golden listed a set of projects tied to a separate capital request (parking and roofs at several elementary and middle schools, and turf rehab at Brentwood and Nolensville high schools) and confirmed that much of the work is scheduled for summertime once funded.

Both measures were approved by voice vote and recorded as unanimous. The intent‑to‑fund action does not itself obligate final payments; the items will proceed through required contracting and capital appropriation steps.