At his state of the county address, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs laid out the county’s budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025, which is heavily focused on teacher salaries and upgrades to law enforcement equipment.
Jacobs started with high praise of the county’s sheriff.
“Our colleague and friend, Sheriff Tom Spangler, has had – there’s no other way to put it – a brutal year,” said Jacobs. “We all know law enforcement is a dangerous profession, and sometimes that harsh reality confronts us in the most painful way, as it did with the death of Officer Tucker Blakely. It’s one of the hardest things a sheriff will face.”
Blakely was killed in the line of duty in October.
Jacobs also noted Spangler’s current battle with cancer, and praised him for continuing to serve his community despite the personal hardship.
Later, he delved into the county’s plan for improving the sheriff’s office’s resources.
“We have also made significant investments in public safety,” he said. “Last year Sheriff Spangler and I reached an agreement that netted his folks the highest pay increases in county history. This year I am again recommending increased funding for his office to pay for software upgrades, body cams, equipment, training and new vehicles. It’s a tough time to be in law enforcement right now. It’s also dangerous. I mentioned officer Blakeley earlier, [the Knoxville Police Department] and Blount County also recently suffered tragic losses. So I think I speak for everyone here when I say how grateful we are to our officers, how much we appreciate them and how we will always support them.”
Jacobs also announced an increase in budget for county schools, that will result in higher pay for teachers.
“Fielding a talented, highly skilled, technologically proficient workforce is more important than ever, and that is what our schools are doing,” he said. “This year Superintendent Rysewyk, with the support of the Board of Education proposed an operating budget of $83.20 million more than the current budget, and I am recommending that we fund the request in its entirety.”
“Net of pass through dollars that means starting teachers with a bachelor’s degree will now make $47,000 a year and the starting pay for those with a master’s degree will be almost $51,000,” he said. “And by 2026 all our starting teachers will meet state requirements by earning at least $50,000 annually.
The budget increase will also allow the district to create 114 new positions to support “student success,” including additional staff for English as a second language teachers and special education teachers.
In addition, two million dollars will be allocated for upgrades to school security.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on X / Twitter.
Photo “Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs” by Knox County Mayor’s Office.
I surely hope this feel-good move regarding teacher pay does not bleed over into Sumner County. All Sumner County teachers received $8,000.00 in two separate $4,000.00 gift raises a couple of years ago. Which, by the way, directly benefitted a county commissioner and spouses of commissioners. But they declared that there was no conflict of interest when they voted in favor of the increases.