This story is part of First City Progress, a weekly series looking at developments in Savannah and the Coastal Empire. If there are projectsyou're curious about, email Zoe at znicholson@gannett.com
It’s budget season for Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools.
The Board of Education heard a presentation of its draft budget for fiscal year 2024 last week. The budget will be passed by late June and goes into effect July 1; it’s the nine-member board’s top responsibility as elected officials.
This year’s budget — which included a preliminary $15 million deficit — focuses on hiring nearly 50 teachers to combat flailing literacy rates across the district, a 5% raise for all district employees and a substantial rate hike in health insurance. And while the district distributed an online survey to which more than 1,000 people responded, several of respondents' top issues were not addressed in the draft budget presentation.
Here’s a breakdown of the budget, what people wanted versus what is proposed, and how to have a final say ahead of the board’s approval vote on June 21:
SCCPSS Budget Breakdown
The budget presentation heard by the board on May 10 could change as it gets closer to the final vote, but what the district compiled is a rough sketch of revenue and expenditures expected for the next 12 months.
The $561 million budget includes an increase of $30 million in local revenue and a $12.9 million increase in state revenue.
But while funding has risen due to an increase in property values, expenditures also have increased, including a hefty rate hike for employee health insurance, as mandated by the state.
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State funding is estimated to grow by $12.98 million from last year, but a health insurance rate hike is expected to cost an estimated $18 million. The rate hike is mandated by the state and equates to $635 more per month per employee than the previous fiscal year.
District 6 Board Member David Bringman said the dearth between the state’s insurance rates and their Quality Basic Education funding (QBE) is a disappointment.
“It's disheartening that our state is telling us, 'pay more into healthcare' and increased our QBE by almost 13 million,” he said at the May 10 budget committee meeting. “And then slap us with almost 20 million in increased medical insurance — which we know all of our staff and faculty need — but that's actually not a huge increase, it's actually a decrease in a state that continues to have a bloated massive surplus.”
The FY2024 state budget includes a $3.8 billion surplus fund, though per-resident spending remains stagnant, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.
The QBE — the state funding formula for school districts — for SCCPSS only realized an increase because of a greater number of students who attended last year, according to the district’s budget presentation.
But state revenue comprises a fraction of the district’s half-a-billion dollars in revenue. Most of that money — $366.7 million, or 65% — comes from local taxes. During the 2023 fiscal year, the district lowered the millage rate 0.50 mills, but did not adjust the rate for FY2024.
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According to the online survey, keeping the millage rate low was the No. 1 priority of Chatham County residents and parents. The millage rate of 17.63 means a property owner with a home valued at $250,000 would pay about $141.30 annually, according to the school district.
Federal funding is expected to remain at $2.3 million, or 1% of total district revenue.
Expenditures are expected to increase $56.6 million with a third of that increase due to insurance rate hikes.
Other key expenditures for the year include hiring 47 early intervention specialists, a key recommendation from the district’s literacy taskforce. Early Intervention Program (EIP) specialists are instructors who work with students at-risk of falling below grade expectations, particularly in the areas of math and English-language arts.
Last year, the district reported two-thirds of third graders weren't reading at grade level, an example of the challenges the school system faces in meeting basic expectations and improving long-term outcomes for students by graduation.
The hiring of 47 EIP teachers is one of the ways in which the district is tackling the issue. The draft budget also included funding to hire six literacy specialists, buy new textbooks, conduct teacher training and hire an English as a Second Language Specialist — there is currently one for the entire district.
The total cost of the literacy improvements would equate to about $6 million in additional funding, according to the budget presentation.
Other major expenditures include an extra $16.2 million for a districtwide pay increase of 5% for all full-time employees and funds to hire several administrative positions, including those in human resources, maintenance, information security and information technology.
The anticipated expenditures for next year total $576 million, which means there is currently a $15.4 million funding deficit that needs to be resolved by June 21, when the board votes to approve the budget.
Residents want safety emphasis, less administrative bloat
The online survey distributed by the district received more than 1,000 responses, three-quarters of which were from parents of students enrolled in SCCPSS schools.The district enrolls 36,000 students, which means survey responses totaled less than 3% of the student body.
The highest-rated area of importance was school safety, with 92% of respondents rating it as an “essential” need for the school district. However, the survey did not define “school safety," whether the broad term referred to bullying, student fighting, threat of gun violence or other safety-related issues.
The budget proposal did not include anything related to school safety measures, but Board President Roger Moss said a top priority for him was raising the number and pay levels of officers in the Board of Education Police Department, the law enforcement arm of the district.
“We have to have competitive salaries for our officers,” Moss said.
The district’s outgoing Superintendent M. Ann Levett offered a rebuttal, stating the district should focus on filling vacant positions instead of expanding departments first.
According to the district’s careers page, there are 200 openings districtwide, some of which have been posted since 2021.
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And while the district’s employee shortages are not unique to Chatham County, an abundance of administrative positions was a top criticism of survey respondents.
The final question of the survey asked respondents where cuts should be made if spending needed to be reduced. Available options included “reducing support staff personnel” and “phase out extracurricular and after-school programs.”
But 13% of people who took the survey answered “other,” many of which called on spending to be reduced at the district level, where layers of bureaucracy have contributed to “administrative bloat,” according to more than 30 responses to the survey.
“This is poor leadership,” one respondent answered. “You know exactly where things could be cut administratively that would not impact teachers or students. This is just trying to drum up outrage amongst parents to get a tax increase. Trim the fat at (the) central office. Not a single thing in this list needs to be reduced. Shame on you for even putting this out to the public.”
And while dozens of people called on the school board to “trim the fat” at 208 Bull St., SCCPSS’ central offices, no such recommendations were included in the draft budget presentation, nor was there any discussion on the topic during the 90-minute public meeting.
The BOE is holding another public hearing for people wishing to comment on the budget. It will take place 6 p.m., Wednesday, May 17 at the Whitney Administrative Complex at 2 Laura St. in Savannah.
