Teacher raises, new stadiums on the line in Sumner County budget standoff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The director of Sumner County Schools, Dr. Scott Langford, is speaking out amid an ongoing budget battle between the school board and the county commission.

The budget, which has been approved twice by the school board, would provide raises for teachers and other staff, fund ongoing safety upgrades like window film, and allow the district to move forward with athletic facility projects, according to Langford. To do this, the school board requests $5.4 million from the county’s $30 million in unallocated capital funds. Langford said this would not cost taxpayers any money.

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However, a group of commissioners has repeatedly rejected the budget. Langford said this is because they have resentment against him.

“There’s about five to seven hardcore constitutional Republicans that would rather see the school system drown than do good things for the people of Sumner County,” Langford said. “It’s a personal grievance for things that they perceive have happened in the past. At the end of the day, they would let personal grievance and values that don’t fit Sumner County, they would let that drive their vote more than doing what’s right for kids and for staff.”

If the budget isn’t approved by Aug. 31, they revert to last year’s budget, which means no pay raises for any employee in Sumner County. The district had planned to raise the minimum salary for all employees to $16 per hour. Langford said not getting it done would be “cataclysmic” for the district, as it would make it very difficult to retain and attract high-quality teachers and staff.

“I don’t think that [the commission] thinks through the fact that what they’re stopping is AEDs to provide more safety in school, window film, continued, enhanced security for our kids, pay for our employees so that we can keep the very best employees,” he said.

Additionally -- on an even closer deadline -- if the budget is not approved by Aug. 17, the bids for the athletic facility projects will lapse, and the district will have to rebid the projects. This could result in significantly higher costs, as well as the possibility that the same contractors may not be available to bid on the projects again.

“When you rebid something, typically it’ll go up substantially,” Langford said. “I would expect it to go up $2, $3, $4 million.”

He said that would mean students wouldn’t be able to play in the three affected stadiums next year.

However, a group of commissioners and school board members, including Jeremy Mansfield, Vice Chairman of the Sumner County Commission Budget Committee, said Langford is misleading families in the district with the way he has presented the budget request.

While Langford said the reason the commission has rejected the budget is because of “personal grievances” against him, Mansfield said that is a gross oversimplification.

“It’s not as cut and dry as Langford is pointing it out to be, saying this is personal, petty grievances. That’s just absolutely false,” Mansfield said.

Mansfield said the commission rejected the request for an additional $5.4 million because the commission has already given enough money to the district for both teacher raises and the athletic facilities. However, the reason the district might be asking for more is because the initial money from the commission was mismanaged by Dr. Langford, according to Mansfield.

“So I can never vote for something forged in lies and call it a reasonable or a good compromise, as some people have said. It’s not,” Mansfield said.

In late 2023, the commission approved the appropriation of $15.8 million for the athletic facilities. Mansfield said Langford then changed the scope of the athletic facilities upgrades from five schools to three and increased the budget from $15.8 million to $20.5 million without adequate public notice.

“No real explanation has been given to why,” Mansfield said. “Langford said the scope changed and those changes were all laid out. No they weren’t. Nothing changed. At no time was there ever any discussion of additional cost or things being added.”

Additionally, Mansfield said already in May of 2024, the budget committee unanimously agreed to give the district $7.5 million for teacher and classified staff raises.

“I supported the $15.8 million, I supported the $7.5 million, but I’m not giving them another $5.4 million because it’s forged in lies,” Mansfield said.

Mansfield said Langford is using the request for teacher raises as a political tactic to get the $5.4 million ask approved, when the school district likely already has the funds to provide the raises.

“If the budgets do not have that extra $5.4 million ask, then more than likely I will support the budgets because I supported them in the budget committee. But they’re gambling teacher raises — they’re gambling teachers over bleachers, is what they’re doing, and it’s really stupid.”

There is a special-called county commission meeting on Monday, Aug. 12 in Gallatin to vote on the budget again.

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