Budget concerns from the last board meeting

From The Daily Times

http://www.thedailytimes.com/article/20100704/NEWS/307049981

The Blount County Education Association was concerned about the approved budget, and the group has issued a letter to board members.

School officials approved cutting $250,000 for the local portion of a certified step raise and another $410,294 for the system’s retirement bonus in the fiscal 2010-11 budget.

The items “by law must be negotiated and cannot be unilaterally changed, as has been done through the budget proposal created by the Board of Education,”