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The Troy City Board of Education approved a $34.5 million school budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

This year’s budget was a $13.5 million increase over last year’s $21 million budget.  According to Chief Schools Financial Officer Patricia Norman, the big increase in the budget came from a total of $17 million in federal funding from the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER).

Norman said one of the requirements for CARES and ESSER funding was the money had to be budgeted in the 2022-23 budget, but the school system was able to spend the money over the next three years.

The school systems’ biggest budget item was payroll with $5.9 million for salaries and an additional $2.3 million set aside for benefits, such as state mandated insurance and retirement.  Overall the schools system lost funding for 5.10 teacher units for the 2022-23 year, but Norman said the system was able to keep those units as well as add additional teaching units through state and federal school stabilization funding due to the coronavirus pandemic. She said the additional teaching units were instructional coaches.

Overall the school system increased its number of employees from 208 to 220.5 units. The breakdown of the staff includes 132.5 teacher units, three librarians, 5.5 school counselors, 10.5 administrators, two certified support and 67 support staff.

Norman said TCS teachers have an average of 12 years teaching experience and 63 percent of the teachers hold a master’s degree or better.

Locally, the budget projects the school system will receive about $1. 4million from sales tax revenue and an additional $1.7 million from ad valorem tax revenue.