Friday, March 12, 2004
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Friday, March 12, 2004 |
| Connell: Schools working hard amid budget cuts As everyone knows, the Coweta County School System is facing difficult choices as it prepares to adopt its budget for the 2004-05 school year. The Coweta County School System and most systems across Georgia are experiencing the second consecutive year of financial difficulties due to decreased revenue collections at the state level. State funding contributes approximately 60 percent of the system’s total operation dollars, and serious budget cuts will impact our school system at all levels. Personnel expenditures are the primary expense for most school districts, and Coweta County’s system spends over 88 percent of the budget for personnel. Many school systems furloughed teachers last year in response to budget difficulties. Our board was able to postpone most of the cuts in the 2003-04 budget by relying on $5.5 million of our $10.5 million in school reserves. Drawing on these reserves is no longer an option. This year, the state budget woes have persisted and even deepened, forcing our Board to make additional difficult choices. State revenues to our district decreased by $193 per student for the 2003-04 school year on top of the $96 per student decrease in the 2002-03 school year. While we do not know the full extent of the budget shortfall from the State for the 2004-05 school year, our best estimate has the cumulative decrease from the State at $400 per student. The effect of the state reductions and the use of our general fund reserves place us in a position of making almost $11 million worth of reductions in the budget for school year 2004-05. We will not know the true figure until the end of this year's General Assembly session, possibly as late as May. The cuts we face could be deeper than we currently anticipate. In any case, the cuts will not be pleasant and any solution will not be desirable. On Jan. 31, the board approved $9.5 million in tentative budget cuts. The form of those cuts is not final, and will not be until the board votes in June to adopt a final budget for the new school year. The board approved the tentative cuts early in the year, to allow for budget discussions with our teachers, parents, and community. Since Jan. 31, we have met with different teacher groups on several occasions to try to find better ways to cut our budget. The board’s tentative cuts began with a reduction of central office personnel. The proposal includes increasing class sizes at the elementary level by approximately two students per class and restructing the middle and high school schedules. These changes alone amount to over $6 million and a reduction of 100.5 positions. Since approximately 150 educators leave the system each year, the system should be able to absorb the loss without furloughing teachers. On February 21, 26 teachers participated in a teachers retreat at Newnan High School. Dwight Ellison, Candace LaForge, Joe Harless, and Gene Tyre volunteered their time to facilitate the discussions. At the end of the day, elementary, middle, and high school teachers submitted suggestions for budget cuts. These suggested cuts included some cuts similar to the board's tentative plan as well as some fresh ideas. Our school board members share everyone’s unhappiness at having to make difficult decisions regarding budget cuts. While this process has been difficult, the willingness of the teachers and community to work as a team to find the best solution has been gratifying. I am confident that the system will continue to provide a high level of education for the students of this county.
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