By Amira Perryman
The Atlanta Public Schools Board has been working thus far
to pass a $568 million budget by the end of the month for preliminary approval.
The Atlanta Board of Education Budget Commission met on Monday, May 20th, to
discuss the proposed budget for the fiscal year of 2014. There are still many
points in the budget that need to be addressed, namely the need for significant
cuts to close the $61 million budget gap. The board has until May 30th to pass
a preliminary budget for a final vote the following month.
The board debated proposing three teacher furlough days, eliminating
a 3 percent salary bonus to employees who haven’t received a raise in five
years, and smaller class sizes during their meeting. While teacher furlough
days would decrease the budget gap, decreasing class size to align with Georgia
regulations would increase the budget gap by at least $24 million.
Select board members voiced during the meeting that they
were content with current class sizes under the condition that they would not
increase. Others wished to see class sizes decrease in the coming school year.
According to state law, public school classroom sizes cannot exceed 32 students
for regular classes and 25 for AP classes. These regulations have been ignored
by the Board of Education of many districts, including Atlanta.
Superintendent Erroll Davis said his goal is to avoid having
cuts affect education quality. According to Davis, "We're dealing with
across-the-board reductions. It's impossible to get through this without making
reductions everywhere. We obviously want the least impacted reductions at the
schoolhouse, but it may not be possible to escape totally."
The race to approve a budget has been rushed and has left
many parents out of the loop, craving more information on decisions that will
have rippling effects. The North Atlanta Parents for Public Schools (NAPPS) as
expressed in their press release would like to see the following occur before
the Board of Education passes the new budget:
- All funds (both General and Special) are budgeted and accounted for public viewing and commentary.
- Classifications are processed in accordance with state guidelines so there is an “apples to apples” approach in showing % going to the classrooms, % in central office salaries, % toward outside vendors, etc.
- The budget process timeline is changed to be in keeping with other districts to have an earlier start time so that FY 2015 is presented no later than early February 2014.
- The Board sees a comparative analysis of the FY13 plan showing what was done for the year and where we are to date as well as a projection for the future.
- The Board and public are shown the ideal district budget and how that compares with where we are today and concrete steps for getting there. We would ask that the Board specifically address what % should be allocated to items like teacher salaries, central office salaries, outside vendor support, etc. The Board is provided with additional budget reduction options other than the class size waiver, so that teacher reductions and other classroom cuts are the last to be affected.
- The Board put the sale of the Atlanta International School property on hold until a cost benefit analysis can be conducted to ensure that the district is upholding its fiduciary responsibilities and considering long-term goals of the District.
For parents or concerned stakeholders looking for more
information on the 2014 budget Forensic Accountant Jarod Apperson has made a
helpful 17 minute video that describes the APS budget basics. He expresses some
of the same concerns as NAPPS, calling for the budget process to start earlier
and for a more transparent process.
More work needs to be done before a working budget is
approved by the school board, so there is still time for parents or concerned
citizens who have questions about the process or want to provide input to
contact their school board member (http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=379).
No comments:
Post a Comment