Rutherford County School Board Votes to Close Two School

Last month, the Rutherford County School Board voted to close Mt. Vernon-Ruth Elementary School and the Rutherford Opportunity Center, while postponing the vote on closing the Ruther Early College High School Program. The vote to close facilities has come as the School Board seeks to cut costs to offset the $6.1 million budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year.

In response to this drastic action taken by the School Board, the Rutherford County Republican Party released a statement advocating for several policy changes to avoid fiscal calamity. Here are their policy recommendations:

• Management Transition: Transition to new management who share a vision to support our teachers and lead the district forward in a fiscally responsible and ethically sound manner. This will foster proper growth of our schools.

• Asset Management: Sell any and all facilities AND properties either unused or underutilized.

• Transparent Budgeting: Embrace budgeting practices that promote full transparency and accountability to the students, parents, and staff of RCS as well as the taxpayers who fund RCS.

·         Appropriate Teacher Pay: Ensure frontline teachers are appropriately rewarded for their dedication through fair pay and increased stipends.

·         Comprehensive Audit: Initiate an immediate forensic audit of all accounts managed and maintained by RCS, including investment accounts, for fiscal years 2020-2021 through 2024-2025.

This is likely simply the beginning of political conversation around the school board in Rutherford County. The county party noted Rutherford County has one of the highest total expenditures per student in the area, compared to similar counties. Those counties are not facing the same financial hardship as Rutherford County, and the commissioners and school board work to solve the financial challenges.

What’s Next?

The school board’s funding request now goes to the County Commissioner. The County Commission will either need to raise taxes to meet this budget request or find an alternative spending plan. Rutherford County was one of the hardest-hit counties by Hurricane Helene, and a property tax increase would fall on homeowners still trying to fully recover from the storm.