DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The DeKalb County School Board on Monday rejected a plan to eliminate 250 teaching positions, but now the administration must scramble to find an additional $13 million in budget cuts before school starts in three weeks.
DeKalb School Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Atkinson asked the board for the Reduction in Force after she said there were not nearly as many teacher retirements or resignations this year as she anticipated. In order to meet their board-approved budget goals, she requested the RIF for those positions, plus 120 paraprofessionals.
But the School Board rejected that proposal by a vote of 5-2. Instead, it directed the administration to look at other ways to find those cuts, including board member Don McChesney's proposal to cut pay by 10 percent for all nonteaching personnel.
Board Chairman Dr. Eugene Walker told the audience that he felt the RIF recommendation came as a surprise, since they had already approved the bare-bones budget.
"What some of us are doing ... is trying to tell the superintendent she's got to come up with a different plan, one that does not include RIFs," Walker said.
Board member Jay Cunningham supported the RIF and said rejecting it would only hurt the district.
"When we talk about making kids a priority, I don't see us doing that," said Cunningham.
David Schutten, president of the Organization of DeKalb Educators, said he was disappointed by the vote. Even though a RIF would mean layoffs for many of the teachers in his organization, he felt the financial health of the district was far more important.
"The school board is in a financial crisis," said Schutten. "Just delaying the decision is not going to make it better. It's going to make it more difficult to make a decision another month from now."
District spokesman Walter Woods said, legally, the board could wait until September to make a final decision, but added that the administration wants to complete the process before school starts in three weeks.
WSBTV
