DeKalb seeks more education cuts

In the face of the recession and continuing state funding cuts, DeKalb County schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis said Thursday he will seek to cut costs next school year by an additional $16 million and that some schools could “be looked at for closure.”

The announcement came in Lewis’ annual “state of the system” address, held this year at Mercer University’s Atlanta satellite campus.

The budget-strapped system already approved more than $20 million in cutbacks in November. That meant fewer school buses on the road starting last month, as the system ended a decades-old practice of virtual door-to-door busing in DeKalb.

Come June, there will be fewer people, too, when 127 employees —- from midlevel administrators to service technicians —- will be laid off.

And Lewis said he may need to go further —- including, perhaps, closing more of DeKalb’s 153 schools. The system last summer closed five underenrolled schools, although it opened others.

DeKalb, among all metro Atlanta public school systems, was the first to take decisive action after the state cut schools funding midyear.

They likely won’t be the last. Gov. Sonny Perdue has proposed cutting basic education funding statewide next school year by about $275 million.

Considering Georgia’s biggest school systems are here, metro Atlanta schools face hard choices. Last week, Fayette County officials ordered all school custodians, secretaries and office staff to take two unpaid days off before June 30 to offset a projected deficit. More than 100 employees in that school system also could face layoffs.

Metro school officials are frustrated at the choices they face. So are their employees.

In DeKalb County, school board members rescinded employees’ “step increases” —- salary supplements based on an employee’s years of experience —- that were to come due in January.

A local teacher advocacy group now is threatening legal action.

Among other cost-saving measures, DeKalb also enticed 36 longtime employees into early retirement. And the board approved a one-day furlough of all employees, to be taken May 25, 2010.

Since 2002, DeKalb has lost about $100 million in state money because of so-called “austerity reductions.” Perdue implemented the cuts in response to the massive budget shortfall he faced after he won office in 2002. State revenue rebounded by early 2006, but the cuts continued. And now there’s a recession.

Just this school year, a midyear state funding cut cost DeKalb schools $10.5 million. “These reductions are not optional,” said DeKalb school board Chairman Tom Bowen. “DeKalb County had no say-so in the timing.”

Still, in an environment of layoffs, home foreclosures and economic distress, Lewis tried to punctuate his message Thursday with some hope.

Lewis said DeKalb is beefing up its career technology program to help students gain marketable job skills before graduation. New school choice programs next school year, including medical magnet classes, will be added, Lewis said.

And when school opens again in August, a new effort to increase parental involvement will be in place.

But given financial challenges that stretch over the foreseeable future, Lewis, unlike years past, unveiled no major initiatives.

Speaking off the cuff as he introduced some of his staff, Lewis said what likely will be DeKalb’s rallying cry going forward is: “No matter the challenges, we always seem to rise to the occasion.”

UPDATE/THE STORY SO FAR

> Previously: The DeKalb County school board OK’d more than $20 million in budget cuts because of cuts in state funding and an expected decrease in local tax revenue.

> The latest: Superintendent Crawford Lewis wants to slash another $16 million because of additional cuts proposed by the state for next school year.

> What’s next: The school board this month begins discussing Lewis’ proposal; school closings also could be a way to deal with funding and budget cuts.