157 Fayette teachers face unemployment to plug $14.5 million budget gap

Pay cuts versus benefit cuts is one likely choice facing the school system, according to Fayette County School Superintendent John DeCotis in a Feb. 11 letter to all system employees.

DeCotis said a budget-cuts committee recommended a minimum 2.5 percent annual pay reduction for all employees, though a maximum 3.5 percent reduction could be required to retain some of the employer-paid benefits.

“Let me point out that while the lowest paid people on our staff will take a greater hit with the benefits, the pay reduction will have a larger effect at the higher end of the pay scale. A 5 percent cut is proposed if paid benefits are not reduced. Every pay and benefit reduction impacts all employees, including the superintendent, county office staff, school staff and all other programs.”

On the committee’s recommendation to cut the employer-paid portions of medical and dental insurance, DeCotis said that such cuts might not occur.

“Many of you have said that if we have to cut what the school system pays toward benefits, you would rather we leave medical and dental insurance intact as much as possible and cut contributions to life and long-term disability if necessary. The committee recommended cutting the employer-paid portion of both medical and dental in half, and completely eliminating the paid portion of life and long-term disability. Reductions in benefits payments by the board will impact lower-paid employees more than higher-paid ones. Therefore, there is consideration not to cut benefits payments at all.”

On the issue of tuition for the children of employees not residing in Fayette County, DeCotis said, “This is an important benefit to our employees, but let me explain why the committee is recommending tuition. The cost to educate a child in our system is $8,241. The local taxpayer has to shoulder about $4,241 of that cost for each student. Like everyone else, our taxpayers are feeling the hurt from this economy. Even so, they showed their support for us and voted in favor of the SPLOST in November, which is helping to minimize cuts. The recommended tuition is $1,000 to possibly $1,500 per child to help offset the cost. This item, because it will have a big impact on our employees, will require further discussion.”

Concerning the recommendations on staff allotments for positions in the various schools, DeCotis asked that staff refer to the eBoard section of the website to see the school levels proposed for reductions. DeCotis said nurses are currently in the allotment for next year.

Though not included in the letter, the Budget/Allotment Committee recommendation targeted 157 in-school positions. Of those, the committee called for a reduction of 100 staff in elementary schools, 22 staff in middle schools and 36 staff in high schools, for a savings of $7.787 million.

Concerning the new Rivers Elementary School, DeCotis said the expenses of staffing the new facility led the committee to recommend that it not open as a full elementary school. Rivers could be used as a setting for school system satellite programs and could be converted in the future to a charter or magnet school.

The budget/allotment committee is addressing a $14.5 million revenue shortfall. DeCotis told school system employees the board will continue budget cut discussions Feb. 23. Public hearings will be conducted on Feb. 25 and 26 if the board believes pay cuts are necessary. A vote on the budget reduction issues will take place at a meeting scheduled for Feb. 26, he said.

DeCotis in the letter told school system employees that once budget cutting decisions are made the school board has asked the Budget/Allotment Committee to begin working on a restoration plan to get the system back to where it was before the cuts were made.

“As I said in the beginning, none of us want to do any of the things that have been discussed, but there is no choice right now,” DeCotis said. “It is important that our school system family support each other because together we can manage our way through this situation. It is going to be a challenge but I promise we will do our best to maintain our excellent programs for our children during these difficult times.”

DeCotis asked employees to utilize the podcast and eBoard features on the school system’s website to stay current with issues facing the board.