DeKalb school officials to vote Monday on layoffs

DeKalb County school officials have scheduled a vote Monday on budget-slashing plans to lay off 127 employees, cut back busing for 5,600 students and eliminate several programs.

The vote, moved up a week, includes several measures DeKalb officials are considering in the wake of a sour economy and state funding cuts.

A separate vote by school board members is also scheduled Monday to decide whether to erase pay raises already approved for this school year.

As recently as Tuesday, DeKalb schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis said the budget items would be put to the board for action Nov. 10. It’s not clear why he moved them up for action a week earlier.

If the proposals are approved, Lewis expects the system to save more than $20 million — likely at a cost of employee morale, particularly over eliminating so-called step increases, which are salary supplements based on an employee’s years of experience. The increases had been set to take effect in January.

Central office administrators also face 2 percent pay cuts.

Officials are taking action now because they expect the district to lose at least $10.5 million in a midyear state budget cut. That’s on top of losses incurred because the state has been providing less funding than state guidelines require; the system since 2002 has seen the state reduce its funding by more than $100 million.

DeKalb officials have expectations that, given the economy, the state will cut at least another 1 percent of DeKalb’s school funding for the next school year.

School board members told Superintendent Crawford Lewis to reduce staff during budget talks this spring. Salaries and benefits make up 91 percent of the system’s $894.1 million general operations budget. Lewis’ goal is to reduce that to 87 percent.