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Fayette schools: What are costs of being ‘special’?Tue, 11/03/2009 - 4:48pm
By: Ben Nelms
Answers: $16.2 million in 300 locally funded positions; 100 extra bus drivers, lots of non-state-paid parapros; 5th-grade band at every elementary school What, specifically, is it that makes the Fayette County School System “special,” a description used many times during painful budget-cutting deliberations at the Board of Education during the past year? The board has taken a firm position that the last thing they would want to cut are the things that have for years set Fayette apart from so many other school systems. What sets Fayette apart is largely based in more than 300 classroom positions along with supplemental program staff and even a large percentage of bus drivers for which the state provides no funding, according to interviews with and documents provided by Superintendent John DeCotis and his administrative staff. The increased staffing in various programs comes with a cost — more than $16 million this budget year. DeCotis said last week that it is largely the additional staffing provided in numerous capacities across the school system that accounts for much of the academic excellence that makes Fayette different from many other school systems in Georgia. And it is this staffing that is not covered by state Quality Basic Education (QBE), he said. Human Resources Director Reanee Ellis provided a long list of the things that set Fayette apart from the average school system in Georgia. Those include the following: • Fifth-grade band at each elementary school • Orchestra • Full-time parapros in each first-grade class • Full-time parapros in each kindergarten class • At least two students fewer than the state maximum class size average • Full-time counselors in each elementary school • A full-time nurse in each school • A technology/computer teacher in each elementary school • A full range of connections classes • High school writing lab and high school foreign language lab parapros • In-school suspension teachers at each elementary school • Music and art teachers at each elementary school • Smaller music, choral, physical education and vocational classes at all schools • Additional remedial classes • Additional advanced placement classes • Textbook adoption each year • A large range of academic and extra-curricular programs. Some of the academic and extra-curricular programs that require locally-funded supplemental staff include debate, newspaper, science olympiad, fine arts, academic bowl, grade chairpersons, science, math, health, gifted, team leaders, language, Local Education Agency representatives, arts, social studies, Saturday school, video production, drama, chorus, detention, strings, STEP team, dance, flag corps, drama, annual staff, teacher leaders and numerous athletic endeavors such as assistant and head coaches for basketball, track, football, lacrosse, wrestling, baseball, soccer, tennis, golf, volleyball, cheerleading and swimming. The combined, non-QBE-funded cost of supplemental staff at $1,352,731, along with the non-funded teachers and parapros at $12,631,000 and the non QBE-funded portion of bus drivers pay totaling $2,300,000 adds up to $16,283,731. Board members and school system administrators often cite the approximately 300 classroom positions that include no funding whatsoever by the state Department of Education. While some positions are funded totally or partly through various federal programs, the large majority of non-QBE positions in Fayette are funded only through local sources such as property tax revenue. In all, Fayette local revenue pays $12,631,000 for a total of 304 classroom positions. Of the 1,538 classroom teachers employed by the Fayette school system, nearly 171 of those are non-QBE funded, according to Comptroller Laura Brock. And of those, almost 38 are funded through other state or federal sources, leaving a little more than 133 teaching positions that are paid only through local revenue sources. Using the figure supplied by Brock of $65,000 as an average for salary and benefits, the locally funded teaching positions this year cost $8,869,000. In the classroom, Fayette employs a total of 320 parapros of which 68 are QBE-funded and 81 are federally-funded special education positions. That leaves a balance of 171 parapro positions that are locally funded, according to information supplied by Brock. At an approximate cost of $22,000 for salary and benefits, Fayette is paying $3,762,000 from local tax revenues for those extra positions. The $1,352,731 for supplemental staff includes chairpersons, extracurricular and coaching positions in the programs. Ellis noted that costs for each program area are difficult to specifically determine since the state does not assign funding to individual people or an individual school but, rather, to the type of employee. For example, the state may fund 100 kindergarten teachers but Fayette may employee 125, Ellis said. Yet another aspect of public education that sets Fayette apart is the distance between bus stops. Georgia pays for school buses to stop every 1.5 miles, yet Fayette school buses stop every half-mile. On a related topic, Brock said the system received $1.78 million last year in funding for transportation yet the school system spent $7.142 million. And while not related to classroom instruction, Brock said Fayette has 199 bus driver positions, although the state funds only 92, and at a 50 percent rate. With salary and benefits a bus driver’s compensation totals approximately $16,000, Brock said. This represents a total of approximately $2.3 million paid through local sources for extra bus drivers. While they represent the majority of staffing costs and number of employees, classroom positions are not the only ones in the school system that are not funded, either in part or in whole, by QBE dollars. There are approximately eight school-based administrative positions that are not funded by the state. Fayette has 29 principals but is funded for only 28. Fayette has 44 assistant principals and is funded for only 37 of those slots. Of the positions funded by QBE, those salaries are only partially covered by state dollars. For example, the state funds a base salary of $51,561 for principals and provides an additional $30,000 for education and experience, yet many principals average $100,000 or more in salary. The difference is paid for with local tax dollars. The situation is similar for assistant principals. Figures provided for the 2008-2009 school year showed assistant principals ranging from approximately $68,000-$90,000. State QBE dollars pay for a base of $42,947 with an additional $25,500 for experience and education. The difference again comes from local tax money. Central office administrative positions are a mixed bag when it comes to QBE funding. Those positions are not easily separated out in terms of what makes Fayette special, DeCotis said, because the school system does not break down central office administrators by the program. In terms of pay, QBE funds $82,197 for the superintendent, though DeCotis makes about $187,000 in salary alone, a difference of over $100,000. That difference of more than $104,000 is funded through local tax dollars. According to state calculations, Fayette earns six assistant superintendents, although Fayette currently employs just two. QBE covers approximately $82,000 in salary. Similarly with central office Special Education Leaders, Fayette earns 10 of those positions but currently employs three. QBE pays approximately $68,500 of those salaries. As for the remaining 20 upper administrative positions in central office, QBE pays no portion of those salaries. Instead all 20 are funded with local tax dollars. In a related matter, Brock’s figures show that the school system in 2009-2010 depends on local revenues for 50.7 percent of its budget and 49.3 percent from the state. State funding in recent years has decreased in terms of the percentage of budget dollars received. The state no longer funds 60 percent of the budget that it once did, Brock said. Additionally, state cuts have amounted to $25-30 million in the past few years, school officials have often stated. The state also takes five mills off the top of the property tax rate to go to economically disadvantaged schools systems around the state. Referred to as the “local five mills,” the cost to Fayette this year will be approximately $25 million, Brock said. login to post comments
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