Bibb BOE gets closer, but budget balance still low

The most recent projection is closer to the target than previous proposals, but the Bibb County school system’s budget is still short of the estimated reserve fund balance required by policy.

Superintendent Curtis Jones and Chief Financial Officer Ron Collier presented an update Tuesday, with an estimated end balance of a little more than $12 million. That’s still about $3.3 million short of the required 8 percent of total expenditures.

As board members suggested other expenses they’d like to see added to the spending plan — such as certified teachers for in-school suspension — Jones reminded them that they actually needed to work in the opposite direction. The first projection back in March reflected an end balance of about $5.2 million.

“If you will remember, though, as Mr. Collier said, we had fund balance down less than 3 percent,” Jones said.

Board member Wanda West was the main proponent of more qualified personnel than the 13 paraprofessionals projected for hiring for ISS at the elementary school level. She recommended that, at the very least, the district seek “sharp, highly trained people” to fill those paraprofessional spots.

“The students who are out of class and in in-school suspension, they still need deliberate instruction,” West said.

The initial budget had included a one-time bonus for teachers that would have amounted to an expense of about $1.5 million for the district. While “step increases” related to degrees and experience for teachers and certified staff are still included, that additional bonus isn’t possible, given the need to make cuts.

“We’re not able to do that,” Collier said.

That bonus was an effort to deliver on Gov. Nathan Deal’s statement that teachers would receive 3 percent pay increases this year. While the state did decrease the amount by which districts’ funding would be cut from the Quality Basic Education formula, it wasn’t enough to cover other expenses as well as an additional raise for educators.

“That’s not true,” Jones said. “The money isn’t there.”

Jones pointed out new expenses in the budget that will help address core focus areas such as reading. One such expense was $600,000 for a software program called System 44, designed to help students who have fallen below grade level on reading assessments.

He said he recognized that teachers also need to be trained, and he highlighted efforts at Veterans Elementary School and other locations to get more teachers their reading endorsements, but he said the tools also need to be there.

“We also need to use technology that is available to help us in that regard,” Jones said.

In general, board member Tom Hudson expressed concerns about the declining fund balance and the resulting cuts that might have a negative effect on student achievement. He has been a proponent of raising the millage rate in the past, a move that didn’t have the support of other board members.

“I think it’s an injustice to our taxpayers and, most important, an injustice to our kids,” Hudson said. “If you keep cutting, we’re not going to raise the bar.”

Board Vice President Jason Downey suggested that more school consolidations might be in order as enrollment falls at some of the county’s schools, a concept that Jones said was already being considered. More companies moving their facilities to Bibb County — such as Kumho Tires, which brought the district $9 million in the form of a payment in lieu of taxes — could also help in the future, board President Lester Miller said.

“We’ve got some other like-Kumho projects coming along that we may be able to account for ... other than raising the millage,” Miller said.

The board will hold its regular monthly meeting Thursday, beginning with the committee session at 4 p.m. Another budget update is scheduled for May 10.

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 8:53 PM with the headline "Bibb BOE gets closer, but budget balance still low."