DeKalb Schools officials OK $1.2B budget for 2019-2020 school year

The DeKalb County Board of Education approved a $1.2 billion general fund budget for the 2020 fiscal year during a called meeting Tuesday night, up more than $90 million from the previous year.

The 2020 fiscal year begins Monday and runs through June 30, 2020.

District officials said much of the increase was due to teacher raises that were part of district efforts to make salaries more competitive with other districts and rising construction costs. An additional $6 million will be spent to cover benefits related to a $3,000 teacher salary increase approved by Gov. Brian Kemp.

The district's tax rate was lowered slightly, but will still reflect a tax-collection increase from properties where values increased over the previous year.

ExploreThe final budget is not yet available online.

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