DeKalb seeks feedback on schools budget plan

Details of a budget reduction plan that may cost more than 200 DeKalb County schools employees their jobs have been posted online, with officials accepting public comment.

Superintendent Crawford Lewis announced the plan Friday as a way for the budget-strapped system to save money.

Find the plan on DeKalb County schools’ Web site. Comments can be sent to crp@fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us.

The plan includes three different options on how to shed as many as 267 jobs, which range from mid-level administrators to groundskeepers to drivers’ education instructors. The job cuts could come as soon as December, although it seems more likely to be June.

The proposal is one of several budget-slashing measures DeKalb schools face this year in the wake of a sour economy and state funding cuts.

School board members told Lewis to reduce staff during budget talks this spring, as the board and Lewis grapple with growing costs and fewer dollars. Salaries and benefits make up 91 percent of the DeKalb system’s $894.1 million general operations budget.

Lewis’ goal is to reduce that to 87 percent.