Friday, May 25, 2001
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Friday, May 25, 2001 |
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Board ponders school budget By JOHN
THOMPSON
Coweta County school board officials are expected to approve a tentative $112 million general fund budget Saturday morning. But before school officials approve the budget, Superintendent of Education Richard Brooks said the board will have to make some tough decisions. When the school system's special purpose sales tax vote was defeated in March, the system immediately froze any building and expansion plans. The system had planned to add classrooms at White Oak Elementary and Poplar Road Elementary schools, but the money is not there without the help of a SPLOST, Brooks said. If board members want to add the classrooms, they'll have to raise the budget, which could lead to a property tax increase, he added. The other issue confronting the board is reducing the pupil-teacher ratio. Currently, in kindergarten, first and second grades, the ratio is 20-1. Officials wanted to lower the ratio, but that would require hiring extra teachers. "I'm presenting them a balanced budget that does not call for a millage rate hike. They'll have to decide if they want to hire more teachers and build additional classrooms," Brooks said. The final budget must be approved by June 30.
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