Unified school board in Memphis, Shelby County asks county for $145 million more

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The unified school board in Memphis and Shelby County has approved a $1.3 billion budget for the 2013-14 school year.

According to The Commercial Appeal (http://bit.ly/XAe8z5 ), the combining city-county schools will ask the Shelby County Commission for an additional $145 million to plug a deficit in funding.

It would be the first increase for public education from the commission in five years.

Passage of the budget proposal came despite urgings of caution by Shelby County Schools Superintendent John Aitken and interim Memphis City Schools Superintendent Dorsey Hopson. They said their staffs have found ways to reduce the deficit to $80 million.