Atlanta schools to cut 50 jobs

The $743 million the Atlanta school board approved tonight is the district’s largest yet.

It cuts about 50 central office positions, including audit and finance staff as well as maintenance workers.

School-level staffing allocations have not yet been announced, but board budget commission chairman Matt Westmoreland said he did not expect to see a significant number of school positions eliminated. However, dozens of staff members at schools that are part of Atlanta’s efforts to improve its lowest performing schools have had to reapply for their jobs.

The $23.7 million Atlanta Public Schools is set to spend on those school turnaround efforts would be the single largest increase in district spending. It includes $6.5 million for the nonprofit groups hired to manage an elementary school and provide staff training; $5.3 million to hire a tutoring company, and $2.6 million for additional reading and math teachers.

The budget also includes:

• More than $10 million for staff raises and bonuses;
• $8.4 million for the district’s new in-house police force, slightly less than APS currently spends on police services;
• A $1.9 million increase in textbook spending; and
• A $1 million decrease in spending on extra help for students affected by the district’s cheating scandal in line with an expected decrease in the number of students in the program.

The budget does not call for a change in the school district's tax rate.

Final adoption of the budget is scheduled for June 6.