MADISONVILLE-Third District School Board member Sonya Lynn presented concerns to the Monroe County Board of Education on Thursday about the Career and Technical Education (CTE) budget.

"I wish every student in this county would go to college, but they won't," said Lynn, noting the importance of the CTE pro­grams.

Lynn said in the 2011-2012 school year, $12,478 were spent from the CTE budget on non-consumables (equipment, etc. that can be used for sev­eral years) for Sequoyah High School (SqHS), in comparison to $11,211 at Tellico Plains High School (TPHS) and $1,926 at Sweetwater High School (SHS).

This year alone, said Lynn, SqHS has used $20,286 on non-consumables, SHS has spent $680, and TPHS is up to $16,037.

See full story in the Sunday, Feb. 24, edition of The Advocate & Democrat.

CTE Director Elton Frerichs, however, told Lynn those figures were “not correct.” He noted that consumables are a local expense, while nonconsumables and equipment are separate federal line items.

“Right now, I have more than $8,000 left in the funds for non-consumables,” said Frerichs, noting that if schools needed something, all they had to do was submit a request. “I can buy non-consumables out of federal money.”