Fewer metro Atlanta school districts are expecting multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls in 2011-12, welcome news for teachers and other school employees who last year faced job loss or fewer working days.
This time last year, about 1,500 metro Atlanta teachers were awaiting news about layoffs in what was an unprecedented budget year. Districts scheduled furloughs for employees, and class sizes were increased.
Officials aren’t claiming a full recovery, but there are signs of improvement. Many metro school districts are balancing budgets with less sacrifice, thanks to several factors: previous deep reductions, short-term federal aid, a reprieve from midyear state budget cuts and better-than-expected property tax revenue.
Cobb school officials last week released a $1.246 billion “good news budget,” which doesn’t require a tax increase but reduces the number of furlough days and gives a midyear salary increase to some employees. DeKalb and Gwinnett counties also are planning to reduce furlough days. Other districts such as Cherokee and Fulton counties are still developing budgets.
Cobb County Schools, Georgia’s second-largest district and the county’s biggest employer, was grappling with a more than $100 million deficit last year, which resulted in the elimination of more than 1,100 positions as well as five scheduled furlough days and larger class sizes.
Officials were bracing for a $40 million to $50 million shortfall for 2012 on top of planned cuts. But new information on the state and local fronts shows a brighter revenue picture than expected. The district’s proposed operating budget is nearly $100 million less than it was for 2008-09, but slightly higher than 2010-11.
“We’ve been losing funding like crazy, and I think the bleeding is slowing. Maybe it is going to stop altogether, and we will start growing again,” said Mike Addison, Cobb County Schools’ chief financial officer.
Employees in the 106,600-student district will still have to take two furlough days, class sizes will stay larger, and many employees will go a third year without a raise. The district expects a slightly better 2013.
Cobb parent Kimberly Ruch, whose son attends Kennesaw Charter, said she’s skeptical of a turnaround but will believe it when she sees more resources for schools.
“I don’t understand how it can change so quickly,” she said. “Seems like just a few weeks ago they were talking about more [layoffs] in Cobb schools.”
It’s a similar story in DeKalb County, where the district cut $104 million from the budget this school year. But the deep cuts left the district in a better position to fund the 2011-12 budget, which cancels furlough days for all 10- and 11-month employees, funds Advanced Placement exams, and allocates money for band uniforms and instruments.
The 99,400-student district is in the process of approving its 2011-12 operating budget. Like Cobb and Fulton, the district was preparing for midyear cuts in state funding that never came, which freed up $16 million. Property taxes declined less than expected this year — bringing in $13 million.
Daniel Sobczak, an economics teacher at Southwest DeKalb High, said this year’s furlough days took about $200 out of his monthly income, though some of that was restored through federal jobs money.
He’ll really be happy, he said, when the district restores salary “step” increases for teachers, which are based on years of work. He estimates his earnings would be about $5,000 more a year.
“I am going to be a seventh-year teacher; this is my fifth year in DeKalb,” he said, “and I am making $300 more [per year] than a brand-new teacher.”
Georgia cut school funding by another $60 million to districts for 2011-12 in addition to reductions to funding in 2010-11. Scott Austensen, chief financial officer for the Georgia Department of Education, said many districts have used federal jobs money distributed last year to help fill some holes, and extra belt-tightening has helped.
Austensen said that although state revenue is up, local tax collections are still down, which is hurting some districts. The increase in gas prices, which will affect school buses, is another added expense.
Local officials are still coping with lean budget times but are optimistic their districts will be able to make gradual improvements in the coming years.
In Atlanta, officials are considering another increase in class sizes (mainly in middle schools), a continued employee pay freeze and two days of furloughs. However, officials said they did not anticipate layoffs or a property tax increase.
Gwinnett County Public Schools, the state’s largest district, proposed a budget that would be balanced by a possible school meal price hike and staffing reductions, via a loss of positions, that could lead to slightly bigger class sizes. Three furlough days could be cut to two for next school year, finance officials said.
In Cherokee County, school officials are expecting a total shortfall of $8 million to $10 million for the fiscal year 2012 budget. It would have been worse if the board had not raised the millage rate last year, said Carrie Budd, the district spokeswoman. County property tax revenue is expected to decrease another $9.7 million, and Budd said it will be difficult to avoid furlough days.
“Basically, we are working with a digest that is now at the 2006 valuation, while we are educating almost 5,000 additional students who have enrolled since then,” she said.
In Clayton County, school officials approved a two-year budget reduction plan that eliminates several positions and trims about $49.6 million through 2013. The district is still working out its detailed budget for 2012 but does not expect furloughs.
The Fulton school board starts detailed work on its 2012 budget this month, but Robert Morales, the school system’s chief financial officer, is already talking more positive than negative.
Money’s still tight, Morales said, but the system in the current year has been able to build its reserves back up to about $161 million.
Metro school budgets
Atlanta
Enrollment this year: 47,800
Operating budget for 2010-11: $589 million
Operating budget for 2011-12: $578 million (proposed)
Cherokee County
Enrollment: 38,298
Operating budget for 2010-11: $347.5 million
Operating budget for 2011-12: TBD
Clayton County
Enrollment: 50,500
Operating budget for 2010-11: $357.2 million
Operating budget for 2011-12: $339.1 million (proposed)
Cobb County
Enrollment: 106,600
Operating budget for 2010-11: $831.6 million
Operating budget for 2011-12: $851.7 million (proposed)
DeKalb County
Enrollment: 99,400
Operating budget for 2010-11: $746.6 million
Operating budget for 2011-12: $789.6 million (proposed)
Forsyth County
Enrollment: 36,000
Operating budget for 2010-11: $257.4 million
Operating budget for 2011-12: TBD
Fulton County
Enrollment: 91,700
Operating budget for 2010-11: $794.9 million
Operating budget for 2011-12: TBD
Gwinnett County
Enrollment: 161,000
Operating budget for 2010-11: $1.265 billion
Operating budget for 2011-12: $1.226 billion (proposed)
Staff writers Nancy Badertscher, Kristina Torres and Jeffry Scott contributed to this article.
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