DeKalb schools savings account grows

The DeKalb County School District’s financial buffer grew about 50 percent from the last report, but is still less than half what it needs to be.

Months ago the school district was projecting around $20 million in its “fund balance” — the financial cushion that school systems and local governments strive to maintain. On Monday, district finance chief Mike Bell said the fund had grown to $30.9 million.

That’s a big increase from the 2011-12 school year, when DeKalb was reporting a $14.5 million deficit. Bell told the school board Monday that the deficit actually reached $21.4 million, so the savings account has grown by more than $50 million since then. Yet that is still well shy of the goal, currently $66.7 million, which equals a month’s operating expenses.