Property owners in DeKalb County would pay a higher tax rate and students would see more crowded classrooms if the budget proposed by Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson is approved.
Atkinson wants to raise the tax rate by 2 mills while also increasing the student-teacher ratio by three per classroom. She and her staff revealed Wednesday that the DeKalb school district must close a $73 million gap between projected revenues and planned expenses. The gap is a result of a drop in property values in the county, plus a rise in health care and other costs, among other things.
There are no furlough days in Atkinson's budget plan, and cuts would include a $5 million reduction in overtime and $15 million in central office expenses and payroll.
"Looking at our options, none of them were great," Atkinson said. The tax increase, the first in about a decade, would bring the school system near the cap set by voters of 25 mills. The school board would have to approve such an increase; this tax rate is only part of a property owner's tax bill.
At a meeting of the school board's budget committee Wednesday, board member Jesse "Jay" Cunningham of south DeKalb questioned the effect on academic performance if class sizes rise. DeKalb added two students per classroom this year, he noted.
"We're adding kids and we've seen that right now, it's not working," Cunningham said. "You're putting more pressure on the teachers, the administrators and the schools."
Atkinson said she had few options. "There are no other places to look," Atkinson said. "We've been trimming and trimming to a place where we don't have anywhere else to go."
Chief Financial Officer Michael Perrone told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a one-student increase in the average class size results from the elimination of about 110 teaching positions. DeKalb loses more teachers than that each year from retirements and voluntary departures, so officials hope to avoid layoffs.
In DeKalb, the current maximum class sizes are 22 students for kindergarten; 25 students for grades 1-3; 35 students for grades 4-8; and 37 students for grades 9-12 (34 for math, social studies, world language and science), according to district spokesman Walter Woods.
DeKalb is in this predicament because revenues from property taxes are expected to drop as much as 6 percent, Perrone told the budget committee. At the same time, expenses, including health insurance and retirement, are expected to rise by $44 million.
The tax increase would raise $32 million. The bigger class sizes would save $21 million. The cuts in overtime and central office expenses and payroll would bring the budget into balance at $760 million.
If approved at that level, the budget for fiscal year 2013, which starts July 1, would be $39 million smaller than the current year budget -- and that's with a tax increase.
The school board is expected to take a first vote on the budget on May 22. The public will then get to weigh in at 6 p.m. public hearings that day and on May 30. A final vote is expected June 11.
Budget committee chairman Paul Womack, a board member from north DeKalb, said he will oppose more taxes. It's unclear how many board members will stand with him, but if he gets a majority, then Atkinson will have to cut more.
Teachers have endured pay cuts in the form of furlough days in recent years, so Dave Schutten, president of the Organization of DeKalb Educators, an employee advocacy group, warned against taking more from his constituency.
"Any type of pay cut would create a catastrophe," Schutten said.
In years past, DeKalb closed deficits by digging into reserves, but Perrone said the school system was starting next year's budget "already in the hole." He said projections showed the general fund reserve account ending the fiscal year with a negative balance as high as $6 million.
Atkinson's proposed cuts and tax increases are intended to bring that to zero, but would still leave DeKalb with no reserves at the end of the 2013 fiscal year.
Governments and school systems strive to keep one month's worth of operating expenses, or a 12th of the annual budget, in reserves.
"They're looking at a train wreck," said Marney Mayo, a mother of two DeKalb students. Mayo attended Wednesday's meeting and said she wanted to see more details. Officials handed out only a few pages of numbers; budgets usually are several inches thick.
What she did hear, though, was shocking, especially the news that there is no money in reserves. She thought the school system had some money for a rainy day.
"How is it that we got to zero?" Mayo asked.
About the Author
