Fulton slashes nearly 1,000 school jobs

By Gracie Bonds Staples

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Despite pleas to the contrary, Fulton County school board members Thursday night voted 6-1 to cut nearly 1,000 personnel positions, including more than 500 teachers, from its 2011 budget.

Superintendent Cindy Loe said the cuts, which included 100 custodial jobs and 59 positions in the district’s popular elementary band and orchestra program, were needed to offset a $120-million deficit.

Board president Linda Bryant said that the budget crisis was not unique to Fulton as school districts across metro Atlanta have been grappling with budget deficits. She and other board members said they do not take thecuts lightly and that they have tried to make the right decisions.

"We're struggling to do what everybody in our community is trying to do," board member Katie Reeves said. "We're trying to make good choices and live within our means."

Said Bryant: "I can hardly stand to see anybody lose their jobs but we are doing the absolute best we can ... even with the music program. I hate all of this but with the state of the economy, you just can't do anything without money."

The cuts were on top of more than $34 million in cuts approved in February, when the board voted to increase class size to the state maximum across all grades, eliminate the pre-kindergarten general fund and summer CRCT re-take program and to reduce the school calendar from 180 to 177 days. The board also approved eliminating more than 60 central office positions for a savings of nearly $4 million.

The system is proposing a 2011 budget that is about $137 million less than the 2010 budget, from $857 million to $720 million.

Instead of a 50 percent reduction in the number of social workers, psychologists and instructional support teachers recommended a week ago, Loe asked the board for a 25 percent reduction while keeping school resource officers at their current staffing levels.

In addition to those changes, Loe recommended adding a flexible support position at each regular middle and high school. Principals can use the position to offset one of the cut positions, such as a counselor, media specialist or teacher. The undesignated assistant administrator position also can be considered for high schools.

Employees who lose their jobs will be notified no later than April and will remain on the school system payroll through June 30.

Parents and students had clearly picked their battles. Some who gathered at Dunwoody Springs Charter Elementary School wanted to save teacher jobs. Many were there to make a last ditch effort to save the district’s popular elementary school band and orchestra program.

Alicia Schaefer, mother of a 7th-grade orchestra student, held a sign that read: “Give Our Kids Music.”

Minutes before the start of the meeting, Schaefer said the program was the reason her daughter Alexa went to Elkins Point Middle in Roswell.

“She wanted to continue with orchestra,” Schaefer said. “Music isn’t just an elective. It’s what teaches kids to strive for more.”

Binita Patel, a junior band student at Chattahoochee High School, told the board: “I am who I am today because of Fulton County music education.”

Patel, one of two students and nearly a half dozen parents to address the board, drew a standing ovation before taking her seat.

The 16-year-old said the program had enriched her life beyond measure and every student who comes after her deserves the same opportunity.