Schools boosting instruction funding
The Walker County, Ga., Board of Education will meet Monday night to review this year’s budget, highlighted by a boost in funding for teachers.
Compared to 2016-17, the budget will add an extra $4 million for instruction, a 7 percent increase. Phyllis Copeland, the system’s director of financial services, said the boost is highlighted by an addition of 30 teachers and “support personnel.”
Superintendent Damon Raines said the school will add 14.5 special education teachers, 11.5 elementary school teachers, three middle school teachers and one guidance counselor. In addition, Copeland said, the system is boosting salaries for employees without teaching certificates by 2 percent.
The state is raising certified teacher pay by the same proportion.
“I was really tickled to be able to give those folks a well-deserved pay increase after the lean years,” school board member Karen Stoker said.
Overall, the system is raising about $84.9 million this year, an 8 percent increase. The bulk of that funding is from the state, as revenue from local property owners is actually dropping by about $400,000.
Copeland said money from the state is coming from two main areas. First, the schools are seeing a $3.1 million increase from the Education Equalization Funding Grant, the portion aimed to give an extra boost to poorer counties. The system is also getting extra money from the Quality Basic Education formula, which is going toward the 2 percent teacher raise and a 2 percent increase for employer cost for retirement benefits.
In addition, she said, health insurance for employees without teaching certificates is going up about $100 a month each.
While the district will receive about $6 million more overall than it did last year, spending is staying flat, despite the extra money for instruction. The boost for teachers is offset by a $4.1 million drop in long-term debt expenses.
Copeland said the district took out a capital lease in 2002 to remodel several schools, and paid off the debt in November.
Jim Barrett, president of the Walker County Association of Educators, said he’s happy about the increased funding for teachers, especially new special education instructors. He also praised Raines for securing more state funding.
However, he said he feels the budget overall is too opaque. It’s only one page of general line items. For example, the increase for “instruction” does not say how much, specifically, is going to a boost in salaries, or how much is going to teachers, or how much is going to support staff.
“When the budget comes out, we don’t always get specifics,” he said. “It’s hard to follow. It’s very generic.”
The board will meet at 5 p.m. Monday at the central office, 201 S. Duke St. in LaFayette.
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@times freepress.com or 423-7576476.