Clayton begins laying off teachers

More than 75  elementary school art, music, physical education teachers and counselors will lose their jobs under a plan the Clayton County superintendent pushed through this week, despite opposition from hundreds of parents and teachers.

With this move, the county appears to be the first system in metro Atlanta to aggressively begin tackling anticipated budget shortfalls.

In Clayton, where district officials are still being monitored by the accrediting agency Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the $57.5 million in proposed cuts will help cover a predicted $49.2 million budget shortfall expected during the next two years. With declining local and state revenues and the start of budget-cutting season, metro Atlanta school districts understand they will be asked to do more with less.

Over the last month, Clayton Superintendent Edmond Heatley presented the school board with 66 budget-cutting options, including a shorter school year with longer school days and total elimination of counselors, art, music and P.E. teachers in the elementary schools. Both ideas came under fire at Monday night's school board meeting, which drew more than 600 sign-carrying parents, students and teachers, most of them opposed to the elimination of the elementary school positions.

After a contentious debate, the board scrapped the idea of a shorter school year and approved the revised plan that called for cutting half -- instead of total elimination -- of the elementary school counselors, fine arts and P.E. teachers.

"I don't see a way of saving a five-day school week and arts and music at the same time," Heatley said.

Similar issues will soon have to have to be addressed throughout the Metro area, as school boards wrestle with restricted budgets.

• Atlanta Public Schools is in the midst of early budget preparations and expects a shortfall next year, though no firm figure in available yet. Last year, APS finalized a $589 million budget that cut annual spending by $67 million. Austerity measures included bigger class sizes, involuntary furlough days and a system-wide pay freeze.

• Fulton County school officials are expecting a "tough, challenging" budget process for fiscal 2012, said chief financial officer Robert Morales. Between reductions in proposed state budget and a 5 percent reduction in property tax revenues, Morales' office projects a budget reduction of $43.4 million. Last August, the system approved its first tax increase in over five years to balance the 2010-11 budget.

• Gwinnett County is anticipating a revenue shortfall of about $75 million, though a recommended budget won't be finalized until late March. Anticipated cost-saving measures include cuts in school staffing allotments, continued hiring freeze at the district level and more division/operational cuts at the central office of at least 5 percent. No layoffs of full-time workers is anticipated.

• Cobb County, the state's second largest district, was originally expecting a $20 million to $35 million gap, but new estimates put the figure closer to $40 million to $50 million, district spokesman Jay Dillon said. The district is planning for a shorter 175-day school year, five employee furlough days and no salary increases. They don't anticipate teaching positions will be cut. The district plans to present the board a draft budget in late April or early May.

• Unlike other districts, DeKalb officials said they do not expect a shortfall due to deep cuts made in previous years. They also plan to cancel furlough days for some workers and cut back the number of furlough days for other workers.

School officials in Forsyth have yet to start building their 2010-2011 budget yet and it is unclear if there will be cuts.

Clayton, in the meantime, seems to be fast-tracking. Heatley has revised and presented his budget-reduction plan three times in the last week and asked board members to e-mail their thoughts on what were non-negotiable items.

He said on Monday that his recommendations give the board wiggle-room to make modifications to the plan which is still a work in progress. The board is expected to vote on a final budget June 27.

"We tried to protect all programs," Heatley said after the meeting. "We're confident we can do everything in a modified fashion."

Nonetheless, board members are proceeding with caution, opting to do their own homework on some of the proposed measures.