Clayton County School Board Monday night nixed the idea of going to a four-day school week but approved a list of other preliminary budget cuts recommended by the superintendent.
Superintendent Edmond Heatley presented a list of options that include potentially cutting in half the number of art, music and physical education teachers as well as counselors in the district's elementary schools. Heatley had recommended eliminating those positions altogether in one of several revisions to his budget reduction plans.
More than 500 sign-carrying parents, students, and teachers opposed to the possibility of losing fine arts and PE programs in the elementary schools, packed Monday night's board meeting. Before Monday night's meeting, Heatley and the board had been bombarded with phone calls and emails from people angry at the possible cuts and those offering solutions.
When it was her turn to speak, DaShonna Taylor brought her four children before the board Monday night and had each one play an instrument briefly to drive home the point of what students would be missing if the fine arts programs are taken away entirely. She also complained about how her son, who attends Mt. Zion High School, had to wait two months for a math textbook and will now have to take summer school because he didn't pass the class. Delaying textbook purchases also is among the c0st-cutting options being considered.
"That's insane," Taylor said. Fifth grader Jessica Davis, an honor and gifted student at J.W. Arnold Elementary School, drew a standing ovation when she implored the board to protect the fine arts and PE program and "please don't cut my childhood memories."
Davis is the daughter of former school board chair Ericka Davis who stepped down from the board three years ago during the accreditation crisis.
Clayton is facing a $49 million deficit over the next two years if it doesn't make deep cuts. Heatley has floated three different plans with scores of cost-cutting options in the last week. One called for shortening the school year by 37 days but extending class time by two hours a day. Another called for eliminating music, art, PE and counselors in the district's elementary schools.
That idea didn't go over well with school board chairwoman Pam Adamson who said it would be hard for kids to concentrate or teachers to effectively teach for what would amount to a 10 -hour days.
"I have grave concerns," she said. The board spent most of what amounted to a four hour meeting Monday night wrestling with parts of Heatley's plans which provided five different scenarios -- ranging from the four-day week to not holding graduations at the Georgia Dome. The board has to approve a budget by the end of June. Monday night, an extra public hearing on the budget was added in June.
The head of a local educators group said he'd hoped the board would delay their decision because there hadn't been much public discussion on the proposed cuts.
"It seemed like they were awfully confused," said Sid Chapman, president of the Clayton County Education Association, whose members showed up at Monday's meeting wearing all-black outfits in protest of some of the proposed budgetary cuts.
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