$563,107,800.00

About 10:00 p.m. this evening the Metro Council voted on the operating budget for the county. There were some interesting amendments moving some of the dollars around. Metro Arts got hit several times and CM Ludye Wallace's amendments failed over and over, bless his heart. The Council got their Habitat for Humanity House. In the end the Council voted to fully fund the budget the BOE requested--to include what was called the "wish list". We shouldn't hear any complaining about not having enough money.

The trick now is to ensure it's all spent in a way that actually benefits the children and their education.

There was a short BOE meeting before the Council meeting. Sometimes I feel like the only one who questions anything on the agenda. One of my question revealed that the improvements to Brick Church Middle School's football field will be done with a grant from the NFL and not from taxpayer monies.

A revised Student-Parent Handbook and the Code of Conduct was also approved along with an agreement with the MNEA to actually begin paying teachers more July 1 per this newly approved budget. It was odd that while the BOE voted (before I got there) in the strongest terms to provide this pay raise they had to get special permission from the union in order to do so.

Also Dr. Sandy Johnson reported that MNPS has applied for a grant from the lottery scholarship fund to create 10 new Pre-K classes. While there were several organizations that were eager to participate we were told several may back out now that it's known that their teachers will have to be under MNPS and only work MNPS hours and days instead of the longer calendar and times so many parents may prefer.

UPDATE: I failed to mention that Ralph Thompson told us that by reformatting the handbook to a smaller size the district will save about $12,000. Good news.