2010 - 2011 Budget

The Coweta County Board of Education voted to tentatively approve an operational budget of $165.7 million for the 2010-11 school year at their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 8. A second and final approval is required later in June before the end of the current fiscal year.

The new year’s budget is approximately $6.5 million less than the $172.2 million operational budget adopted by the Board in June, 2009 for the 2009-10 school year.

That budget was reduced significantly in July, 2009 – after the start of the fiscal year – because of state cuts instituted as a result of lower state revenue collections.

The budget tentatively adopted Tuesday would not differ significantly from the Coweta County School System’s Fiscal Year 2010 operational budget after those cuts took effect. No reductions in academic offerings or personnel are anticipated. The 2010-11 budget would also keep property tax rates at the current 18.59 mills despite an anticipated 2.5 percent decrease in the local tax digest in the upcoming fiscal year. The Board has maintained the 18.59 mill tax rate for several years.

The Board plans to meet again in called session on Tuesday, June 22 to consider final approval for the Fiscal Year 2011 budget. If adopted, the budget will take effect on July 1.

The 2010-11 school system budget approved Tuesday includes a General Fund Budget of $165,674,469. That budget (funded principally by state revenues and local property taxes) reflects a decrease from the school system’s General Fund budgets of $172,206,757 adopted in June, 2009, and $175,931,581, adopted in June, 2008.

In addition to the $165.7 million General Fund Budget, there are three other school system budgets approved by the board as a part of its total 2010-11 budget. They include a $23,833,383 Special Revenue Fund (which accounts for state and federal funding sent to special federal programs such as Title I and federal lunch programs, as well as the school system’s self-supporting school food services), a $23,527,708 Capital Projects Fund (for construction and other capitol expenditures) and a $13,738,307 Debt Service fund.

Those budgets, combined with the Operations Budget, total $226,773,867. That budget compares to $251,866,663 total budget adopted in June, 2009.

School construction and debt service are funded principally by the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds and some state funding for construction. The budget reflects school construction and improvement projects and payments towards short-term (five-year) bonds issued for construction of projects under the current one-cent Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.

The budget continues a reduction of three planning days removed in the 2009-10 budget, and shifts the start date of school to Monday, August 9. The budget adopted sets a 187-day contract for certified teachers and other 190-day employees, and three fewer days for all other employees who work more than 190 days. Teaching assistants, bus drivers and cafeteria workers would not be affected, because they work the 180 days that students are in session during the year.

Despite the reduction in the budget, Superintendent Blake Bass said that he does not anticipate any reduction in student services in the upcoming school year, and said that the Coweta County School System remains in good financial shape. The budget preserves a 180-day instructional year for students and maintains current levels of staffing and educational programs.

"I want to express my appreciation to all of our employees” in the school system for controlling spending over the past fiscal year, said Bass. "From the 29th of last July when word came down that we were being cut 8 percent, everyone accepted that pitched in. We spent what we had to spend, and what people could do without, we did without."

That level of planning and discipline has put the Coweta County School system in a better position than many other state school systems, he said. "It has made us a system where we can take care of some of our needs and our people," he said.

The Board of Education also adopted a class size waiver resolution required by the state Department of Education. The resolution allows school systems greater flexibility for the upcoming school year by adopting their own local system-wide maximum average class size.

Class size maximums will be increased to exceed the current state standards by 1 to 3 students in all regular education classes Kindergarten through 12th grade, in English Language Learners, Gifted, Early Intervention Program, Remedial Education Program, Vocational, and Alternative Education, but with no change in special education classes.
The adopted class size averages match the same extended maximums offered by the state during 2009-10.

"We want to emphasize that we are not changing our class sizes," said Assistant Superintendent Wayne Outlaw. "This is exactly what we recommended last year” and which were allowed under state mandates in the 2009-10 school year.