Atlanta schools OKs budget; 200 job cuts set

Atlanta school board members Monday evening approved a $652.5 million budget for a 12-month period beginning July 1 that includes some staff cuts to grapple with the ongoing economic recession.

The board also gave its initial approval Monday to maintain the current property tax rate of 21.64 mills. The board will take a final vote next month.

The Atlanta City Council is considering Mayor Shirley Franklin’s proposal to raise the property tax rate by about $240 for the average city homeowner to make up for lagging property taxes, sales taxes and other revenues.

Schools officials said its budget is austere. It is $9.5 million less than the current spending plan of $662 million. Its revenues are projected to drop from $662 million that’s expected to be collected over the 12-month period ending June 30 to $647 million over the following 12 months.

The 6,400-employee district is cutting about 200 positions through retirements and attrition. The changes will save the district $10 million, officials say.

The board’s budget for the 49,300-student district is buffered by $9 million in federal economic stimulus funds for general operations and another $23 million over the next two years for the district’s Title I and VI programs, which, respectively, assist low-income and special-education students.