School districts plan budgets, share information differently

Not all school budgets are created equal, and neither are district budgeting processes.

Metro Atlanta’s six major school districts vary greatly in approaching transparency, public interaction, and even spending patterns.

School districts, because they receive funding through state contributions and taxpayer dollars, are required to share certain information with the public as work begins toward a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. They also are responsible for having a certain number of public hearings on the budget, and publicizing those meetings so residents can have a say.

DeKalb County’s Board of Education on Tuesday approved the district’s $1.1 billion operating budget for the 2018-2019 school year, which goes into effect on July 1. DeKalb was among the last of metro Atlanta’s major districts to approve its annual budget (Fulton County was expected to approve its budget Thursday, which was after dead- line for the Education Notebook). Cobb County’s FY19 budget was approved more than a month ago, before its seniors donned cap and gown.

When a school district works toward passing a budget, several documents should be made available to the public, including the detailed budget. That way, residents have enough details to know how their tax dol- lars are being spent.

Tuesday night, parent Nancy Kelly commented during a DeKalb millage rate public hearing that she was concerned the school district gave residents so little time with the detailed bud- get. She saw it for the first time just last week, and had been waiting for it to appear. “I’m extremely reluctant to approve a millage rate” that includes a tax increase, she said.

DeKalb County School District officials came under fire last year for initially refusing to make the district’s detailed budget readily avail- able. District officials ini- tially told The Atlanta Jour- nal-Constitution that the documents would be placed on the school district website following approval. Several residents mentioned the missing documents during public hearings.

The documents eventu- ally were placed on the district’s website the weekend before DeKalb County Board of Education members voted to approve the district’s first $1 billion budget.

This year, the district delayed its detailed bud- get again, posting it online again after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution requested and was initially denied a copy of the detailed budget.

Atlanta Public Schools goes one step further, offering spending in clusters, also showing achievement benchmarks and priorities by area.

There was no hint of a 2019 budget on the Clayton County Public Schools website until The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked why it was not online. The district approved its budget on June 4.

The law mandates residents be invited to comment on the budget, and any potential moves that increase taxes. Tax bills could go up with no millage rate increase because higher property valuations mean the district will collect more money than it did with the same rate last year.

Fulton County Schools go above and beyond here, according to Robert Morales, the district’s chief financial officer. Each school holds budget meetings with its School Governance Council, which includes community members. This year, the district held two public meetings, which were advertised a week in advance in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Fulton Daily Record.