The Knox County Board of Education approved the district's fiscal year 2019 budget in a close vote Monday night.
Board members approved the $484.5 million budget in a 5-4 vote. Board members Gloria Deathridge, Jennifer Owen, Lynne Fugate and Terry Hill voted against the proposal.
James Slay is an assistant principal at Sarah Moore Green Magnet Academy and said the final vote was definitely a blow to him, and most importantly, his students.
"It's disappointing. Our identity is basically being stripped from us. We are Green Magnet Academy," Slay said.
Before the final vote, Lynne Fugate made a motion to approve a $490 million budget to include a 2-percent raise for teachers and restore full funding to three programs that have seen their funding cut in the proposal.
That motion failed on a 4-5 vote with board members Patti Bounds, Amber Rountree, Susan Horn, Tony Norman and Mike McMillan dissenting.
"This budget is something that effects me personally and the people I hold most dear," said Haley Jones, a sixth grade teacher at Vine Middle Magnet School. "When I go back to my classroom I have to explain the conclusion that was come to by elected officials and they are not going to feel like they were represented and that's hard."
Jones said the board members let her and her students down.
The budget has sparked pushback from parents, teachers and supporters of programs like Project GRAD and magnet schools that will see their funding cut.
Superintendent Bob Thomas initially proposed cutting funding for magnet schools and Project GRAD by about $1 million each.
The board took up the budget proposal on April 11, but delayed a final vote until April 30.
After the district received revised estimates for state Basic Education Program funding from the Department of Education, the district learned they would receive about $2 million more in state funding than they estimated.
That $2 million was offset by an estimated $500,000 less in county property tax revenue.
Thomas then released a revised budget plan including some funding for magnet schools and Project GRAD, but not enough to fully fund either program.
The budget allocates $500,000 for Project GRAD, and $160,000 for magnet programs.
Leaders with Project GRAD said they understand it is a "very tight budget year," and will work with the superintendent to reach full funding in future years.