June 19, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
Teachers and Support Staff of the DeKalb County School System are a step closer to getting a local pay raise.
The county budget committee Tuesday night approved the Board of Education’s revised 2018-19 spending plan for schools and will send it on to the entire county commission for final approval in July. Director of Schools Patrick Cripps formally presented the proposal to the committee.
Under the plan, all certified personnel including teachers would be given a $600 local pay raise in addition to the $600 increase they are getting from the state for a total of $1,200. Support staff would also get a local $600 pay hike under the board’s new request.
The School Board initially wanted to give teachers and other certified personnel a $2,400 local pay raise along with the $600 state increase and $1,500 for support staff.
In addition to the reduced proposed pay raises, the board has revised its requests in other areas.
Funding to implement a Dyslexia Program for children at the elementary school grade level has been eliminated. The board cut its requests for $215,000 in new money to buy science textbooks down to $65,000. One new school bus will be purchased instead of two buses, a savings of $100,000.
Money to purchase Chrome Books for the 3rd through 5th grades at a cost of $240,000 will be carried over since it was budgeted this past year and not spent. Students from the 6th grade through high school already have Chrome Books. Extra funds ($20,000) is still included to repair and replace existing Chrome Books.
The proposed budget still includes $10,000 in new spending for meeting mandates of state evaluation and testing.
Due to the increasing demands of technology, the board still plans to make a current half time computer tech position full time ($13,150 in new money) which would give the school system three techs.
Extra funds are included for employee matching benefits and $2,500 to help schools cover their phone bills.
The proposed general purpose school budget now totals $23,322,099 for the 2018-19 fiscal year, an increase in spending of $849,816 from this past year. If the school expenditures exceed revenues in the coming year, the budget committee wants the Board of Education to understand that the overage will be taken from the school system’s fund balance (reserves) to balance the budget.