Dublin City Schools is approaching a financial crisis, State School Superintendent Richard Woods warned in a letter to the small school system.
“I will not mince words about the seriousness of these concerns, which have escalated,” he wrote last week. “At this point, Dublin City Schools is on a direct path to insolvency and financial crisis.”
The district must make “substantial” spending cuts to keep operating its schools, Woods said.
Dublin City Schools owes close to $7 million in unpaid state health benefits, according to the letter. The district’s superintendent and school board members were unaware of the issue, the Courier Herald reported. In August, the district’s finance director resigned, the news outlet also reported.
The district is also on track to have a budget deficit of more than $13 million by June. The shortfall will almost equal the $16 million the school system gets each year from the state, Woods noted. As the district was operating in a deficit, it gave raises to employees — including Superintendent Fred Williams, the Courier Herald reported.
State officials originally became aware of the problems in August. It is unclear from the state’s letters to the school district how the financial problems began. The district had not completed audit reports for fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024, Woods wrote in an August letter to the district. A spokesperson for the school system did not respond to a request for information from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The district between Macon and Savannah is small: It has around 2,400 students in five schools and an academy for gifted students. Williams was named Georgia’s 2024 superintendent of the year.
Dublin City Schools is scheduled to start repaying the health benefits in October, but its original plan to reduce the deficit “did not adequately address” the problem, according to Woods’ letter. The district must submit a plan to cover the current shortfall and outline “substantial reductions in spending.”
“GaDOE (the Georgia Department of Education) is providing support well beyond our fiscal and statutory obligations for the sole reason of our concern for the students who depend on Dublin City Schools,” Woods wrote.
Williams says the district has hired outside firms to help address the financial problems the state has flagged, according to a WMAZ report.
The state Department of Education has asked the district to accept a revised financial improvement plan. Dublin City Schools is one of several Georgia districts to face state scrutiny over its financial management over the years. The Evans County school district, near Savannah, earlier this year agreed to a corrective action plan with the state after auditors found unallowable purchases, unauthorized approvals and improper payments to employees.
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