Cobb school board considers restoring 1 percent salary cut to...

Cobb County school leaders are recommending raising district employees’ pay to restore 1 percent of salary that had been previously cut.

If approved by school board members, who are expected to consider it at Wednesday’s meeting, the increase would return salaries to the level they were before being cut by 2 percent almost 4 years ago.

The board approved the restoration of the first 1 percent this past spring, when it passed the district’s nearly $890 million budget. That 1 percent restoration for all employees became effective July 1, 2014.

Interim Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale is recommending the latest 1 percent pay restoration. If approved, it would become effective Jan. 1, 2015. The cost would be approximately $3.7 million.

"The district has been required to make difficult budget reductions during the economic recession," according to school board documents supporting the superintendent's recommendation. "One of the most significant budget reductions was decreasing all salaries by two percent in the FY2010 budget."

“The FY2015 budget showed great improvements in the district’s sources of revenue.”

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