Schools
Josh Cathey, Germantown schools chief of operations, said the strict county rules on how the funds can be used and the uncertainty of when the money will be received make it difficult to plan for large projects.
“You can’t tell a contractor, ‘We’ll pay you back over the next two years as we get this funding,’” he said.
Manuel said the district had “a whole list” of projects that had to be put off because of the funding uncertainty.
The Shelby County Commission cannot give money to only one school district. When Shelby County Schools receives money from the county, the commission has to give a proportional amount to the municipal school districts as well. That amount is based largely on attendance, but takes other factors, like the number of special education students, into account, according to suburban school officials.
The funding for the municipal districts doesn’t come out of SCS’ piece of the pie. The commission has to budget in the municipal districts’ capital funding on top of the money for Shelby County Schools. That money can only be used for capital projects, and the school districts have to be able to show the county commission how every dollar was spent.
SCS communications director Natalia Powers said in an email that the district is reimbursed for capital projects by the county after the projects are completed and the school district provides documentation of the expenses to the county.
“Shelby County and SCS administrators meet on a regular basis to provide greater transparency on budgets, capital projects, spending and funding needs,” she said. “Those updates include details on remaining funds on completed capital projects, reallocation of appropriated capital funds to new or other projects within the first year and capital project balances from current or prior appropriations that have been fully or partially obligated by contract shall remain available in future fiscal years.”
As of April 30, Powers said SCS had spent $16.2 million of the $90.3 million the school district had been awarded