Rutherford County Director of Schools Dr. James Sullivan presented a $573 million operating budget for the school district’s 2025-26 fiscal year to the school board in a special called meeting on May 8.
“We are a large school system, and when you are a large school system, the numbers are larger,” Sullivan said. “But per-pupil expenditures, we are 126 out of 143 districts across the state.
“We do a lot with less money per pupil. Just throwing money at kids does not make a good school system, but it is good to know that at some point our services start to struggle.”
A vote is scheduled to approve the budget at the board meeting Thursday at the school district office, 2240 Southpark Dr. in Murfreesboro…