Grundy County High School

Recently, the Grundy County School Board voted to turn down state-funded $2,000 bonuses for teachers.

In a special emergency meeting held on Saturday afternoon, only four members of the Grundy County School Board were present. It takes five votes to approve agenda items. The hope of teachers and board members who attended was to reverse the previous decision. No vote was taken due to the lack of a quorum.

Board members missing from the meeting include Mary Ann Hargis, Linda Broom, David Dickerson, Doyle Shrum, and Eric Birdwell. They are the five who voted against Grundy County teachers receiving the state-funded bonus.

Those in attendance on Saturday were the four who were in favor of the bonuses: Angela Nunley, Phyllis Lusk, Margaret Thomas, and Nelda Stifel.

Some teachers who called the missing members personally were told the members had prior commitments, despite being given a 48-hour notice about the emergency meeting on Thursday.

What will happen next, no one seems to know.

Here’s a look at the average classroom teacher salary in counties in our area for the 2023-2024 school year, according to the Tennessee Department of Education:

Bledsoe: $57,000

Marion: $56,000

Sequatchie: $54,300

Grundy: $53,600