Rome school board hopes to add staff
♦ Members also discussed a potential middle school expansion and a more restrictive public participation policy.
The Rome school board’s first budget draft for next year includes reinstating positions that were removed last year.
The final call is on hold until late May or early June, as they wait to see if the city plans to adjust the millage rate. However the board went over the proposal Saturday during its spring retreat in Rome.
The school’s fiscal year begins in July so any potential changes would need to be made in June.
Superintendent Lou Byars plans on talking with City Manager Sammy Rich sometime this month about keeping the millage rate the same.
Under the proposed $5.1 million budget, the school system would be reinstating the gifted specialist and ELL specialist and interpreter positions that were removed last year.
They also plan to add 27 teaching positions throughout the district and an administrative assistant for the assistant superintendent.
The budget doesn’t include any of the federal CARES Act funds. Byars said most of those funds are allocated for one-time purchases for the schools, such as new Chromebooks and buses.
A few paraprofessional positions are also being added, but Byars said those are being hired under three-year contracts.
The tentative schedule for the budget readings will be May 11 for the first reading and June 8 for the public hearing and final vote.
Public participation policy
The board also discussed restricting their public participation policy.
Under the new policy, public participation would be limited to only people who are employees, current students and their parents/ guardians or if they live in the city of Rome, Assistant Superintendent Dawn Williams explained.
Another part of the new policy would include submitting a request for public participation 24 hours before the board meeting starts.
“One thing I’m suggesting is we create a request form with consistent information like their name and what they want to talk about and also include one of those requirements to make sure they have the interest of the students in the district,” Williams said.
Expanding the middle school
The school board also discussed an expansion at Rome Middle School, as growth continues to trend upward.
The school system has invested in space for the high school with the college and career academy, they’re now debating on what to do for the middle school.
The original plan was to move the sixth grade out of the elementary schools — to alleviate the space issues there — and into a separate STEM academy building at the former North Heights Elementary School.
“Back when we were first talking about this, space at the middle schools wasn’t an issue,” Byars said.
Now, they’re debating on potentially moving the sixth grade in with the rest of the middle school. If they were to do this, they have two options: Build a bigger building or add on to the current building on Veterans Memorial Highway.
The superintendent said they might be able to use some of the CARES Act funds to help pay for a project, but he also talked about a potential education local option sales tax.
Their current ELOST runs out in 2024 and if they want another to fund a middle school project, it would have to be passed sometime in 2022.
In the near future, the board plans to hold public meetings to hear what the public would be interested in and make a decision from there.