ROGERSVILLE — The Hawkins County Board of Education is proposing a 2019-20 fiscal year budget that is balanced using approximately $3.1 million in savings, much of which will pay for several facility improvement and repair projects that have been delayed at least a year. Director of Schools Matt Hixson told the Times New on Monday that one reason some of the facility repairs and improvements were put off last year is because the central office wanted to wait until the new director was in place and make those decisions as a team. Hixson began in January, relieving interim director Reba Bailey, who took over after former director Steve Starnes resigned in June 2018. Some of the projects addressed in the 2019-20 budget include paving both county high school parking lots, refurbishing both high school tennis courts, and several major roof and HVAC system replacements countywide. The BOE also agreed to set aside $50,000 for use by individual schools to make improvements to their sports facilities. Those funds will be drawn from the capital outlay project budget line and were already accounted for in the budget, so it doesn’t constitute new spending.