Gwinnett hears no opposition to school budget cuts

By Patrick Fox

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gwinnett County held the first of two public hearings on its fiscal year budget, and on Thursday night surprisingly no one spoke in opposition to the $251 million reductions proposed.

The district planned to keep property taxes at current levels while absorbing another 1,633 students and staffing seven new schools. Enrollment next year is estimated at 161,000 students. The proposed budget cuts represent a 12.5-percent decrease from the 2010 $2 billion spending plan. No one was complaining.

"I believe our community trusts us," school board chairperson Mary Kay Murphy said. "We've had great evidence of that."

Murphy said the board remained committed to supporting education, protecting teachers, making cost-effective decisions and hiring only employees the district could sustain.

"We've absorbed the cuts and we've tried our very best to be judicious," she said. "We hope the years ahead will prove that we continue to make the right decisions."

Rick Cost, chief financial officer, said the district took several steps to make up for the 2011 budget shortfall, which had been calculated at $115 million.

Class sizes, on average, will increase by one student, saving $31.2 million. Another $15.6 million will be saved by freezing salaries and incorporating three furlough days for all employees except bus drivers and food service workers. A district-level hiring freeze will save another $8.5 million, and building projects will be lowered by $187 million.

The district also planned to save $9 million by reducing its retirement system contribution rate from 106 percent to 100 percent. Cost said the move will not affect current or future employees because auditors consider 100-percent funding more than what's needed.

An executive summary of the budget is available online at gwinnett.k12.ga.us. Another public hearings is scheduled for May 20 at the district offices, 437 Old Peachtree Road in Suwanee. The board will vote on whether to adopt the budget following that hearing.