DeKalb County school leaders approved an $874.5 million budget for the coming school year, an 8 percent increase over last year, with increases in employee salaries and early childhood education and the re-establishment of a retirement system.
The 2015-2016 fiscal year begins July 1.
Superintendent Michael Thurmond announced earlier this spring that he would like to boost the minimum wage for district employees to $10.25 per hour, $3 more than the national minimum wage, resulting in salary increases between 14 and 37 percent for about 200 full-time and 400 part-time employees. About $20 million already had been used to give raises to teachers, secretaries, bus drivers, custodians and other staffers for the 2015-2016 school year. District staff received a 1 percent cost-of-living increase last year for the first time in seven years.
Under the pay plan, school faculty members with six or more years of service would get a 4 percent cost-of-living hike, teachers with up to five years would receive 3 percent, and other district staff would receive 2-percent increases.
Thurmond told the board in April it would enter the new school year with a general fund balance of just over $80 million. In recent weeks, he’s earmarked $10 million from that to restart the county’s retirement plan.
More than an hour was spent debating the wage increases Thurmond proposed, with suggestions to possibly change how some employees were classified for raises.
Thurmond said the raises were a way to make the district more competitive in hiring.
The board also approved a resolution recommending the county accept a millage request for 23.73 mills, after reducing the number from last year’s approved rate of 23.98 mills during the meeting.
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