The Clayton County school board will decide on Monday whether to reclaim money it gave to district employees late last year, and in turn use it to deal with an anticipated $49 million budget deficit over the next two years.
The board will meet at 5 p.m., with its controversial decision coming after the superintendent was told last week he could proceed with most of his budget-cutting proposals. The decision involves recouping $6.4 million in federal stimulus money the district doled out in incentive payments to teachers, bus drivers and other employees just before Christmas last year.
The money was given to school districts by the federal government as a jobs-saving measure. Clayton initially considered putting the money in its general fund but instead gave the money to employees who attended five days of professional training.
Recouping that money accounts for the single largest area of savings in the budget. The plan approved last week calls for across-the-board cuts from the central office to the classroom. The plan, for example, asks for a delay in textbook purchases, which would save nearly $3 million. Cutting the number of bus drivers by 50, which essentially eliminates current vacancies, would save nearly $2 million. Eliminating shuttle services would save another $1.6 million.
If the board is unable to retrieve the money it gave to district employees, it might have to turn to furlough days for staff and bigger cuts, especially in the district’s elementary schools, where half of the number of counselors, music teachers and in-school suspension jobs are at stake. Those jobs initially were spared at last week’s meeting but were made vulnerable under the plan approved by the board.
The approval came after a contentious and often confusing four-hour meeting. In additional to an overall budget crunch, the district’s nutrition program is faced with its own money problems, Superintendent Edmond Heatley told the board during Tuesday night’s packed meeting. Even so, Heatley told the board, “I’m pushing the board to make a decision,” so he could proceed with employment contracts during the next month.
“I do understand their hesitation,” Heatley said. “I’d rather them take their time than to feel rushed.”
In the past couple of months, the board has wrestled with a number of cost-cutting options that were introduced, pulled off the table and and reintroduced. Among the considerations: a shorter school year but longer school days and four-day work weeks. Some district workers have said they’d give the money back if it would save jobs.
Linda Mitchell, a cafeteria worker at Mundy’s Mill Middle School, favors a four-day work week even if it meant less pay. As for the $235 she received from the district last year? It’s already spent.
Board chair Pam Adamson said the “majority of the board seems to be ready to recoup the money, but we’ve got to make sure we’re doing it legally.”
“The whole process has been messy,” Clayton County Education Association President Sid Chapman said. “The plan is not real clear. The board has not had a clear picture of what the superintendent intends to do. It’s changed every single time. It’s way too confusing to make a clear decision.”
Chapman said it would be a “huge mistake” for the district to try to recoup the money.
“It could lead to a lot of legal issues,” he said, suggesting furloughs would be a less intrusive way to balance the district budget.
The board must adopt the final 2011-12 budget by June 27.
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