After a month-long delay, DeKalb County school board members this week approved the district’s fiscal year 2022 budget.
The budget totals $2 billion, and includes a $1.19 billion general fund that pays for district operations. Board members Joyce Morley and Anna Hill voted against the final adoption.
The fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, 2022.
DeKalb board members were originally scheduled to approve the budget at their July 12 meeting, but deferred the action to the July 28 meeting.
A divided board at that meeting rejected the budget and implemented a spending resolution to cover its obligations through August.
Some board members raised concerns about not getting information they requested from district staff in a timely manner. They also questioned whether the district will be able to sustain new programs and positions once federal coronavirus relief funding runs out.
Board member Marshall Orson, Deirdre Pierce and Allyson Gevertz praised district staff for introducing a budget that addresses decades-old concerns and aligns with board member goals.
“I just don’t think there could be a better display of that,” Gevertz said.
The two-week delay did not quell the concerns raised by Hill and Morley at this week’s meeting. Hill said she requested information about the district’s federal coronavirus relief spending and other topics, but her questions weren’t answered until minutes before the August meeting.
“I’m still struggling, though, because I didn’t receive my information in time to do a proper review so I can have a conversation with the superintendent,” she said.
Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris said Monday that the budget process allowed the district to better see where it was as an organization.
“We acknowledge that we are not where we need to be, but we are moving in the right direction,” she said.