Gwinnett County Public Schools Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks is proposing a budget for next fiscal year that would dip into the school district’s reserve funds for only the second time since the post-2008 recession.
The total budget for Georgia’s largest school district would near $2.4 billion, a slight increase of 0.4% from the current fiscal year. The general fund, or operating budget, would be $1.8 billion, a 2.2% increase.
School board members at a Saturday workshop debated how best to budget for the additional social and emotional needs students will have as they return to classrooms in the next school year. Some advocated for spending federal stimulus funds on the appropriate staff, such as counselors, while others wanted to provide funding beyond the one-time federal grant amounts.
“Foundationally, for me, equity is very important and seeing investments in that throughout the organization,” said Tarece Johnson, board member. “The social-emotional piece is the foundation for academic success.”
Administrators said they were planning to spend some of the federal funding on enhanced summer programs that would also address students’ emotional needs.
By the end of this fiscal year June 30, the district will likely have spent the $32 million it received from the federal government in last year’s initial round of stimulus funding, Chief Financial Officer Joe Heffron said. That money went to personal protective equipment, internet connections and Chromebooks for students, the school nutrition program and reimbursement for employees who took leave related to COVID-19.
Spending plans are still in the works for the second and third rounds of federal stimulus funds. The third round, part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief plan, will send $282.4 million to Gwinnett schools.
Board Chair Everton Blair said he needed more information to understand why the number of teachers budgeted per student does not reflect class sizes.
“These numbers look good, but I’m not seeing that in the classrooms when I walk into the school building,” Blair said.
Gwinnett is expecting to enroll almost 180,000 students next school year, gaining back most of the 3,000 students that dropped off the rolls in the coronavirus pandemic.
The budget would be balanced with nearly $13 million in reserves but it would keep the tax rate the same. The district has just over $100 million in reserves, Heffron said.
Teacher salaries would increase across the board and all employees would receive cost of living increases on top of the additional $1,000 they anticipate next month from Gov. Brian Kemp.
Substitute pay would increase and Gwinnett would hire five more district-wide social workers. The school district also wants to hire more employees that would help expand the curriculum for artificial intelligence, computer science and civic engagement.
The district is expecting a $49 million increase in state revenue, largely from enrollment growth and a lower level of austerity reductions.
Gwinnett’s property tax base is expected to grow for the eighth consecutive year, a 2% increase that should bring in an additional $20 million though the tax rate is expected to stay the same.
The school board is scheduled to adopt a tentative budget next month. Then two budget hearings must be held before the final budget adoption, slated for June 17. The final tax rate will be adopted sometime in July.
Gwinnett schools’ proposed budget
Total budget, fiscal year 2022: $2,352,600,000
Total budget, fiscal year 2021: $2,344,200,000
Total change: $8.4 million
Percent change: 0.4% increase
Maintenance and operation tax rate: 19.70 mills
Debt service tax rate: 1.90 mills
Projected enrollment 2021-2022 school year: 179,943
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