Desperate in DeKalb: Should schools drop sports programs? How about band and drama?
A parent raised an issue at the DeKalb school board meeting that merits more discussion here: Rather than increase class sizes, the parent said the county should cut athletics. “There’s no point in training student athletes when they can’t read or write or get a job,” she said.
As a parent, I have to agree. But I also have two kids who chose sports — tennis and volleyball — that are largely played outside of school in tournaments and club leagues. So, I am already paying for their sports. My older two played only school-based sports, and it was a lot cheaper.
As we have discussed on this blog, Finland, the model du jour for U.S. schools, does not offer school-based sports teams, relying on community programs to provide them. (A reader from Finland wanted me to note, however, that the Finns are very health oriented and their schools offer vigorous PE classes that utilize public parks for running, public ice skating rings for skating and public ball fields for Finnish baseball. The schools do indoor sports — strength training, basketball, volleyball – during winter. “Also we have mandatory recess several times a day when kids go out, rain or shine, and no matter how cold it is,” said the reader.)
When the reform committee formed by Gov. Roy Barnes looked at the dismal middle school scores years ago, the committee suggested that students spend more time on core subjects at the expense of PE and music. There was a a vocal outcry. I can recall PE teacher pointing to the obesity epidemic and music teachers citing the correlation between music and math and the fact that kids in band have higher high school completion rates.
But DeKalb is between the proverbial rock and hard place — no money in reserves and a $70 million deficit. The county was badly hit by the collapse of the real estate market in Georgia, and wearied taxpayers, some of whom owe more on their houses than the homes are now worth, don’t want a tax increase.
So, should DeKalb jettison its sports programs? Should it follow Clayton’s example and at least consider dumping middle school sports? Should it impose fees on all extracurricular programs, including band, drama, debate, robotics and cheerleading?
I value all these programs and wish schools could offer all of them and more. But is that realistic when you witness the choices facing DeKalb?
I agree that many families can’t afford for the fees, which for club sports can be $2,000 to $4,000 a year for coaches, fees, uniforms and travel.
Why couldn’t Georgia create a tax credit program for public school extracurriculars as it did for private school tuition? People could donate so low-income students could play sports or participate in the band. (Of course, if the program followed the twisted path of the state’s private school tax credit the money would end up going to middle class kids.)
Here is the AJC.com news story on the bad news from the board meeting Tuesday:
DeKalb officials are wrestling with their most challenging budget in years. Unlike most school systems in Georgia, DeKalb has no money in the bank and is on a trajectory to finish the fiscal year in debt. The board took a step Tuesday toward closing what is potentially a more than $70 million deficit by ordering spending cuts and reluctantly setting the table for more taxpayer support.
“I cannot support a two mill increase,” said Paul Womack, who nonetheless voted with the majority in the 5-2 decision Tuesday afternoon. He wasn’t alone. The board had to adopt something prior to a public hearing Tuesday evening to comply with Georgia Department of Education rules. A final budget typically must be in place before the fiscal year starts July 1, and changes are likely.
Nancy Jester wouldn’t vote even for this early draft of the budget because of the tax increase. She said she wants to cut “everything, and more.”
Without that $30 million, the board will have to look far beyond a list of 15 reductions recommended by Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson.
The biggest, a two-student increase in the average classroom size that would save $14 million, may also be the most controversial. Layoffs of about 70 central office employees would reduce spending by $5 million and a pullback in overtime pay would save another $5 million. Assorted other cuts, including the elimination of the Montessori program, transportation to magnet schools and elimination of 25 librarians, would make up the rest.
Atkinson withdrew other options, but they’re still on the table if the tax rate doesn’t rise. Among those options, are eliminating the pre-kindergarten program and outsourcing custodians.
DeKalb increased average class sizes by two students a couple years ago, and teachers say another increase would push them to the breaking point.
Tracey Anderson, an English teacher at Lakeside High, said her student roster would rise from around 150 to about 190, “which is beyond impossible — it’s absurd. … I don’t even know how one would report the grades.”
Rather than increase class sizes, parent Molly Bardsley said officials should cut athletics. “There’s no point in training student athletes when they can’t read or write or get a job,” said Bardsley, whose children attend Kittredege Elementary and the DeKalb School of the Arts, both magnet schools
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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306 comments Add your comment
Doug
May 23rd, 2012
1:24 pm
The above numbers about NCAA athletics are true, and cannot be argued with. But athletics can be a VERY important factor in college admissions. At many small private schools as many as 10% of the incoming freshman class may be athletes. With a certain number of admissions at an elite university going to big donors, and a certain percentage to children of alumni, the numbers in each class available for anyone else can be quite small. Many colleges have unfunded sports as far as athletic scholarships, but they still may have admissions slots for those athletes. And these numbers are not counted above. So your child may be able to get into a better school with an athletic admission with no scholarship. And many private schools, especially the elite ones, have need blind financial aid, which may be more money that a partial athletic scholarship. So there are other good outcomes for high school sports,especially not in football and basketball.
Perspective
May 23rd, 2012
1:25 pm
If the only place your child can be competative with their peers is on the field, they are missing the student part of student-athelete. Wasting money pretending to educate someone simply to play sports is diverting valuable resources. And sorry, sports is not what keeps kids out of trouble, a strong moral compass established at home by committed parents does. Sports is a sorry substitute that cannot compensate for that forever.
Habersham Dawg
May 23rd, 2012
1:26 pm
Thank you, Maureen.
$200,000 for middle schools.
A won’t rant (much) until I see what it is for High Schools.
I’m beginning to wonder why HS sports were being offered up as sacrificial lambs.
wreckmaniac
May 23rd, 2012
1:26 pm
Doug: I too attended Dekalb County schools in the 60’s and they were excellent. You raise a good point. It is always expected that any “school bond” issue will be passed by voters. This must end.
If the tax-crunch caused by this recession results in sensible management of our public schools, then every job lost will be worth it. This can become a successfull recession.
Memorial Drive
May 23rd, 2012
1:27 pm
Dekalb County is a look into the future of many urban areas around large city’s. When you have people in charge who are not really capable of running an operation, this is what you get. It is interesting to observe. I have seen it in many urban settings around the country. It is too bad we can’t talk about it as a society. If we keep dancing around the truth, the problem only gets worse.
Dunwoody Mom
May 23rd, 2012
1:28 pm
@Shar – I was in each of those 5 DCSD stadiums last year, With the exception of track upgrades they look no different than they did 30 years ago.
payforplay
May 23rd, 2012
1:29 pm
don’t drop sports–just charge a fee that covers the costs–very simple.
privateschooldad
May 23rd, 2012
1:29 pm
Of course, if the program followed the twisted path of the state’s private school tax credit the money would end up going to middle class kids.)
MD – keep in mind us private school parents are not only paying for your kids to go to school and play sports with our property taxes, but also not burdening the school system with our own kids… you should be thanking us and not complaining about what we do with OUR tax dollars.
Brasstown
May 23rd, 2012
1:32 pm
Maureen, You know there are far more costs to a school sports program than just the coaching supplements that were reflected in the $200,000 figure you were given. Booster clubs pay for much of the additional costs except for the biggest two items-sports facilites and the salaries of the coaches to teach each day. It’s not a secret that coaches are hired for their ability/willingness to take on those duties. It’s also not a secret that as a group, coaches are not the strongest candidates for teaching positions that were available. There are exceptions of course. However, calculated into this discussion should be the cost (in academic excellence) of less effective teacher/coaches.
As far as the loss of all of the other benefits sports can offer children, it’s way over rated. A few bacis “life lessons” are all that is really available. I’m not sure that all of those are even positive life lessons given how parents act at sports events and how our celebrity atheletes behave. In any event, removing atheletics from our schools and placing them in the community shouldn’t hurt any of those opportunites.
BillyBobJacket
May 23rd, 2012
1:34 pm
There are plenty of rec league sports availabe to middle schoolers outside of the tas-payer supported schools. Where does it end? Every activity has benefits and advocates, but are they ALL necessary? For the most at-risk kids, sports impede education rather than enhancing it. Public schools should be to educate kids, not prep them for sports careers. And don’t give me the crap about opening up college opportunites, because very few top athletes get real college degrees. If the kids worried about grades instead of sports in high school, many more of them would be eligible for Hope, and the ones that still cant frankly aren’t college material anyway.
BillyBobJacket
May 23rd, 2012
1:36 pm
Good point privateschooldad…never thought of that. What if the 10-25% or so of kids in DeKalb who go to private school were suddenly dumped inot the public schools, with no increase in the tax base. Talk about huge classes and trailers, it would be armageddon!
Archie
May 23rd, 2012
1:42 pm
With all the grammatical and spelling errors I have seen in this blog so far today, I can see why academics needs to be first priority at all public schools in Georgia (Not just DeKalb County!).
Stop the Whing and PAY UP!!! or SHUT UP!!!
May 23rd, 2012
1:44 pm
@ Brasstown…
Your comment about booster clubs wasn’t completely true…in MANY of the successful programs the facilities that lots of posters like to criticize are being paid for by Parents and Booster clubs that are set up specifically for that purpose. They are non-profit corporations with monies contributed by local business owners, parents, volunteer groups etc. to build weight rooms, work-out facilities and pay for the equipment in these facilities…with the booster clubs on the hook for the mortgages of these buildings!
In many cases they also pay a portion of Head coach and many asst. coach’s salaries. If the kids want to play parents are paying play cost associated with whatever sport it is and booster clubs carry the rest of the load. These clubs are VERY active in their communities and the kids receive the rewards of the adults time and efforts. Oh an additionally they handle the upkeep of the fields and game day prep. The schools that receive this type parent involvement are in no way a drain in any form on their respective systems!
Bryan
May 23rd, 2012
1:46 pm
Patricia…..what county is and continues to be the bain of Georgia’s existence???? ding ding ding…..Dekalb. What county has more people on welfare, free lunches, etc…..ding ding ding…..Dekalb. I’m a libertarian actually. I believe that if you and I grow up in the same state, have the same opportunities, and then have different outcomes in life that it is not my fault.
I graduated from Forest Park with a 2.0….my fault. I joined the military when 19, served 9 years, and in that time realized I needed to get off my butt and study and get a degree, because no one else was going to do it for me. I then received my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, both with 4.0 GPA. Obama didn’t have to help me, or give me entitlements….I just had to motivate myself to get where I wanted to be.
With that in mind I am no where close to those 10 %’ers. But I don’t believe it is their fault. They just motivated themselves far beyond what I did. I can either be happy with where I am or find a way to motivate myself further to get to that level. I definitely can’t buy into the idea that they owe me something just because they have done so well.
I must be an idiot.
WAR EAGLE
May 23rd, 2012
1:46 pm
How about corporate school sponsorships? Home Depot High vs Loews High? Publix vs Kroger, Coke vs Pepsi, so on and so on- 20 yr naming rights, and payments every year so that board cannot blow thru it like drunken democrats at a tax hiking party.Unfortunately, when you have a program that cannot sustain itself on it’s own, you either have to have private money, taxes or charitable gifts to keep it up or cut it. Thank you title ix! stupidest ruling ever.Bet those clowns never ran a business. And were probably democrats for fairness. They should eliminate basketball and concentrate on other, less expensive sports like soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, etc.As for band, as long as they can keep within their budget, have ad it. You can have a nice band education by performing 2-3 concerts a year or marching in 2-3 competitions a yr.
Chris
May 23rd, 2012
1:49 pm
Instead of only having homeowners pay the school tax (which comes from property taxes), institue some sort of school tax on families living in apartments. I’m not sure of the statistics, but I believe it’s more than half of kids going to school in Gwinnett County live in apartments. So, basically, you have the 50% supporting the 100%, kinda like the way real taxes are. Cuts are going to have to be made, and unfortunately, school sports might be next on the chopping block.
Lisa
May 23rd, 2012
1:52 pm
I’m confused! My daughters have played high school sports for the past 7 years and I am not sure any school money was spent on the program. Other than the actual land that the field sat the parents via the booster clubs paid for everything! Uniforms, field work, travel, equipment, etc. Gate fees were submitted to the school and they paid out of this fund for umpires, referees, etc. but I don’t recall a penny coming directly from the school. I was treasurer of the booster club for many years and I never saw a check from the school. We either paid for what we needed or did fundraisers. This was Cobb County but I bet its the same everywhere. I would like to see what is actually being spent by the county. If it is anything it is probably for football.
A Conservative Voice
May 23rd, 2012
1:57 pm
C’mon folks, it’s not sports and extracurricular activities that’s causing the budget problems in the DCSS……it’s the ineptitude of the people running the show. I’m kinda like that mayor in New Jersey…….”it’s enough to make me wanna throw up”.
Brasstown
May 23rd, 2012
2:05 pm
@”Whining…” Some systems may have that kind of support. Parents could do all of that spending in their local rec program too. Could they come up with salaries to pay all of these teacher/coaches to stay in their community as full time employees? That is alot more money, year in-year out. My main point is that to have them on-site and able to go straight from teaching to coaching each day requires school systems to hire them as teachers, and “there’s the rub”. Eventually, schools hire coaches and then plug them into a teaching slot. Frequently, some nice folks and a good influence on kids, but all too often, not academically excellent.
Logical Dad
May 23rd, 2012
2:05 pm
I began reading these comments with all kinds of opinions. Unfortunately, @tony and @Howard Finkelstein beat me to them So I’ll ditto everything they said. Preach on.
pw
May 23rd, 2012
2:06 pm
How about cutting the administrative staff to the bare bones minimum and keeping sports and the arts. These things are integral parts of a child’s learning process.
GA is always quick to cut the very things that could propel this a** backwards state into the 21st century. Most GA schools do not offer any type of computer instruction, no cursive writing, limited if any STEM instructions. Arts and PE are so limited in scope it’s ridiculous. My 3rd grade grandson learned the music to Peter and the Wolf from a movie!
woodrow
May 23rd, 2012
2:11 pm
This may go a little too far. Arts and Sports are significant to children growing up. Mind and body. We want the best of the best coming out of our schools. And we don’t want only the rich to have good education.
Teacher Reader
May 23rd, 2012
2:13 pm
At the open campus graduation, seeing DCSS security standing in the shade talking to one another and doing little to nothing for their salary. EVERY employee should be on the table. Too often the tax payer is paying for a product far inferior than the money they are spending.
Dekalb taxpayer
May 23rd, 2012
2:25 pm
Patricia, I can understand your frustration with Dr. Atkinson, but do you really want the superintendent elected by the same people who have given us our board members? Things might actually be worse, as hard as that is to imagine.
@Ned
May 23rd, 2012
2:25 pm
Fernbank Science Center costs close to $7,000,000 a year to operate while they have one admin and support employee for every science teacher.
http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2010/03/are-proposed-dcss-budget-cuts-going-to.html
http://fsc.fernbank.edu/faculty.htm
Look at what the 5 Fernbank Science Center Designers alone cost taxpayers in salary and benefits (they maintain the exhibits at the Science Center).
DCSS can afford to spend over $400,000 a year to maintain science exhibits, but we can’t afford teachers, and we can’t afford over 50 cents a student a year for science equipment and supplies for science instruction in our schools:
Designer $77,381
Designer $63,360
Designer $84,073
Designer $65,827
Designer $69,178
Total: $359,819
With benefits – $431,782 for 5 Fernbank Designers.
Look at the 2011 science scores for DeKalb:
Science % FAILED by Grade Level
3rd grade – 30.9%
4th grade – 33.6%
5th grade – 35.2%
6th grade – 42.2%
7th grade – 31.9%
8th grade – 49.9%
Almost half of our 8th graders do not know the most basic concepts in science.
Protected by the powerful Fernbank community, the last time Fernbank Science Center was looked for even some modest cuts, the Fernbank Elementary School Council penned an Open Letter to the DeKalb Board of Education urging the closure of neighborhood schools while exempting the science center.
Marshall Orson who is running for the DeKalb Board of Education signed the letter:
http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2010/03/letter-from-fernbank-elementary-school.html
Not one word has been said by Dr. Atkinson and the BOE about the millions spent on Fernbank Science Center.
Fernbank Science Center has some very worthwhile programs for a select group of students (e.g. STT, SEEMA), but the school system can no longer afford this 1950s model of a science center as an enrichment tool for students that have already have mastered the basics.
Fernbank Science Center should be a non profit organization similar to the Fernbank Museum at best or it should be scaled back or closed. If it does not become self sustaining, the 28 excellent Fernbank Science Center teachers could be placed in the schools and these special programs could be run at a fraction of the cost we spend for the center.
The other metro schools systems including the demographically comparable ones have higher science achievement than DeKalb, and they have no science centers. This is definitely NOT about science achievement for ALL students in DeKalb.
C Jae of EAV
May 23rd, 2012
2:34 pm
@Shar – I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at your comment, “…. the recreation centers that Mayor Reed restored funding to that can and should pick up the slack for those who cannot pay their own way.” Purhaps I’m walking around with my eyes wide shut, but I’ve not seen the grand transformation Mayor Reed promised manifest itself up to this point. It would seem to me that Mayor Reed’s campaign promise has a hollow ring to it.
Nevertheless, I understand the essence of your point and sadly I have to agree. If we’re at a point where the core mission of our public school systems are in jeporady of not being serviced, then we have to take a long, hard look at EVERYTHING extra being doing and find a way to partner with other civic/business groups to sustain those programs if they are truly desired. At the very least, Middle School sports needs to be dumped and I take along hard look at the sustainability of what’s been offered at the HS level.
AngryRedMarsWoman
May 23rd, 2012
2:38 pm
“DCSS security”
Now THERE is a good use of school funds. How in the heck did we ever make it through K-12 without security or school resource officers? I don’t think the police ever showed up at my high school – if they had, someone would have been in deep crap with mom and dad when he/she got home. Not that we were perfect angels, mind you, but the teachers we able (and allowed) to handle us if we got out of line. I remember a skirmish or two being broken up by the football coach/Social Studies teacher…I don’t think that the same boys ever did that more than once. I looked at private schools earlier this year and do not recall seeing a single one with security or a school cop. What kind of children are being raised and sent to public schools that you need to spend money on someone with a gun on his/her hip to keep order?
Dekalbite
May 23rd, 2012
2:43 pm
There are many more Central Office positions that need adjustments in numbers and compensation.
For example, there are 90+ DeKalb Special Ed Lead Teachers, Coaches and Coordinators (termed Special Education Specialists on the Salary and Travel audit) serving 130+ schools costing $8,000,000+ a year in salary and benefits. They are in charge of paperwork for the special education program and never teach a single child.
By contrast, Gwinnett Schools has 20+ Special Education Specialists serving 130+ schools costing them around $1,7000,000.
DeKalb has 7,500+ Special Education students while Gwinnett has 16,000+ Special Education students.
These Special Education Specialists have never reported to principals in the schoolhouse so they have always been considered Central Office personnel. Contrasting this group of personnel (90+) with Gwinnett numbers (20+) and their respective costs, perhaps there is room for some “rightsizing” in this cost center.
@AngryRedMarsWoman
May 23rd, 2012
2:54 pm
DCSS spends almost $11,000,000 for around 200 Security personnel – including every demographically comparable school system.
Eugene Walker, chairman of the BOE, has a son who is in Security.
Look at the figures for DeKalb Security. They are mindboggling:
http://dekalbschoolwatch.wordpress.com/dcss-spending/the-cost-of-security/
Here is what the recent audit taxpayers paid for said regarding Security:
“Public Safety: Eliminate Deputy Director position. Move responsibility for DCA AIC
Security position from Facilities to Public Safety. Eliminate night shift. Move six positions
to daytime school assignments. Seek memoranda of agreement with other local law
enforcement agencies for nighttime alarms. Hire additional 22 SROs. Combined with
former night SROs, increased staffing will provide two SROs per high school.
Public Safety: Allocate Campus Supervisor positions at the school level, as part of the
school funding. Move 117 positions from central office to school funding (two of 119
campus supervisor positions are part of central public safety). Campus Supervisors would
maintain joint reporting responsibility (to SRO and school administrator) noted in the
budget. Staffing from 195.0 to 100.0.”
Have we cut the Security staffing from 195 to 100?
Source:
MAG audit (see page 33)
http://dekalbschoolwatch.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/full-report-phase-i-dcss-audit-jan-2012.pdf
td
May 23rd, 2012
2:55 pm
Lisa
May 23rd, 2012
1:52 pm
Same happens in Paulding county and Forsyth County. I just wrote a $100 check to the school for my son to participate in Cross Country next fall for transportation fees and uniforms.
Dekalbite@Woodrow
May 23rd, 2012
2:57 pm
“This may go a little too far. Arts and Sports are significant to children growing up. Mind and body.”
You do realize that math, science, language arts and social studies classes are going to be up to 40 per class? And we are not just talking about students on grade level – we are talking about some classes with 50% or more of their high students significantly below grade level in math and reading (particularly in the low income schools) sitting in classes of 40.
Dekalb taxpayer
May 23rd, 2012
3:00 pm
My children (who by the grace of God have now graduated) were either not into sports or weren’t good enough to play at the varsity level. But I would rather my tax dollars go to fund sports than go to pay the salaries of unqualified, overpaid people sitting in the central office. Dekalb’s “leaders” would like us to think that we have to choose between sports and academics. We don’t. Get rid of any law firms who were chosen based on race alone, get rid of all of the people the auditors declared to be nonessential, and cut the salaries of all remaining non-teaching personnel. I’m not ready to declare Dr. Atkinson a failure, but a true leader wouldn’t ask teachers to take a pay cut without taking one herself.
JKB75
May 23rd, 2012
3:01 pm
Stop taking from the children. Please.
Pardon My Blog
May 23rd, 2012
3:32 pm
I think we need to look at the source of the problem which has been the BoE and Administration for the past 10 years (present company included). Mismanagement all the way around. For some students the sports, bands, orchestra, etc. are an outlet that these students need. They are NOT allowed to participate (a GHSA rule) if their academics fall below a designated percentage (as in college sports). For many these activities help develop the discipline to do well in school.
To throw more money at the problem is really not the answer as the free willing spending will continue. A hard look needs to be made at all expenditures from the top down. The only entitlement is the education of the students. DeKalb is taxing its citizens right out of the county and until we can get leadership who really know what they are doing and what the real priorities are, we will continue down this path.
The Deal
May 23rd, 2012
3:36 pm
They are trying to get blood from a stone with the tax issue. DeKalb’s property values continue to stagnate and decline because of the substandard school system. In other areas of the country, property values have stabilized and are even going up, particularly where the schools are good. DeKalb’s property values, and thus, property tax revenue, will never go up until the school situation improves. Anyone with half a brain (not the majority of our BOE) would realize this.
John
May 23rd, 2012
3:37 pm
Parents should be billed directly (tuition) for every kid they have in the system and if they want extra goodies like sports then they should be billed extra for that.
Ned
May 23rd, 2012
3:56 pm
I believe one poster summed up the “save sports at all costs” line of “reasoning” quite well:
“For alot of young men, no sports = no disipline. No after school practice = more time to run the streets and get in trouble. No disipline = more hoodlums. No sports = more highschool dropouts = more poverts = More hoodlums = more crime, rapes, murders.
So do you wanna pay a few more dollars a month in taxes, or potentially have your wife or daughter raped or murdered. People never think about violent crime and its causes, until it affect them.”
In other words, if I am unwilling to crowd five more kids into my kid’s math class so money for middle school football will not be cut, it’s my fault when Johnny becomes an axe murderer.
????????
May 23rd, 2012
3:57 pm
Can we see some hard numbers of how much this would save????
Teacher Reader
May 23rd, 2012
4:01 pm
All homes should have to pay the same amount in school and county taxes regardless of their home’s value.
say what?
May 23rd, 2012
4:02 pm
Alright folks Stop with the High School Sports being cut. Listed below is what was discussed. this information was included in an email from the parent council.
ID
R1 Increase Revenue with 1/2 Mill Rate Increase $7,400,000
R2 Increase Revenue with 1 Mill Rate Increase $14,800,000
R3 Increase Revenue with 2 Mill Rate Increase $29,600,000
Options to Decrease Expenses
1 Additional Central Office Personnel Layoffs (70 Positions) $5,000,000
2 Eliminate Pre-K Program (Traditional) $2,700,000
3 Eliminate Additional Magnet Allotments (52 Points) $3,640,000
4 Eliminate Montessori Program (28 positions) $1,400,000
5 Eliminate Transportation Special Programs (Magnet, Theme, DECA, AMS, STT) 60 drivers $1,800,000
6 Eliminate Textbooks Replacements & Repairs w/e-Books $1,800,000
7 Eliminate Bus Monitors from General Fund Expenditure (188) $4,700,000
8 Outsource Groundskeeping (Future Consideration FY13) TBD
9 Outsource Maintenance (Future Consideration FY13) TBD
10 Reduce Transportation (Extra Activity Pay – Field Trips) $1,600,000
11 Outsource Custodians (641)/Plant Engineers (46) $5,084,824
12 Eliminate (100) General Education ParaPros (excluding state funding K/SE) $3,500,000
13 Eliminate (200) General Education ParaPros (excluding state funding K/SE) $7,000,000
14 Reduce Media Specialists (25) $1,750,000
15 Eliminate Remaining (29) Media Clerks $850,000
16 Middle School Athletics (See addendum) $200,000
17 Overtime (Extra Activity Pay) $5,000,000
18 Sale of Surplus Property
19 Close Fernbank Science Center $4,700,000
20 Reduce by 10 Assistant Principals Through Attrition $975,000
21 Reduce by 10 Counselors Through Attrition $815,000
22 Reduce Interpreters (20) $876,580
23 Implement Utilities Efficiencies (4-day work week summer only)$250,000
24 Health Insurance Subsidy ($35.57 per month/per benefits eligible employees/approx 11,000) $4,695,240
25 Dental Insurance Subsidy ($16.02 per month/per benefits eligible employees/approx 11,000) $2,114,640
26 Salary Reduction for ALL Employees 6.25% $36,000,000
27 Furlough Day (1) $3,000,000.00
28 Furlough Day (2) $6,000,000.00
29 Increase Class Sizes by 1 Student per Class $7,000,000
30 Increase Class Sizes by 2 Students per Class $14,000,000
31 Increase Class Sizes by 3 Students per Class $21,000,000
AVAILABLE OPTIONS:
GOAL: $73,000,000
Dekalbite
May 23rd, 2012
4:02 pm
This is from the DeKalb School Watch blog – list of the jobs being advertised on PATS (the DCSS Human Resources site). It looks like the admin and support jobs are being filled first and then what’s left over goes to the classrooms where the students reside:
“JOBS on PATS:
Chief of Staff 1
Coordinator II, Research, Gran 1
Director – Ed Media 1
Director – Leadership Development 1
Director, C/I-Core Instruction 1
Director, C/I-Electives & Spec 1
Director, Federal Programs 1
Director, Research Assessment 1
Director, Staff Services 1
Exec. Director – Curr. & Instruction 1
Exec. Director – Special Prgrms 1
Exec. Director, Diverse Learni 1
Exec. Director, Federal Progra 1
Exec. Director, Research, Asse 1
Executive Legal Officer 1
Regional Superintendent 5
Director – Operations/StudentTransportation 1
Director, Facilities Adm Svcs 1
Analyst I, Insurance Report 1
Coordinator III – Athletics 1
Coordinator II – K-12 Music 1
Coord. II-Secondary Curriculum 5
Coord. II, Elem. Curriculum 5
Coordinator/School Leadership 2
Coordinator II, Aspiring Lead 1
Coordinator II, Charter School 1
Coordinator/Secondary 6
Coordinator II – Safe Schools 1
Coordinator III, Federal Prgms 1
Coordinator III, Research/Asse 1
Coordinator II, Career Tech/In 1
Coordinator II, Federal Prgms. 1
Coordinator II, Inst. Material 1
Coordinator II – Gifted & Talen 1
Coordinator II – School Psychol 1
Secretary – Onboarding 1
Secretary – Tech Support 1
Specialist, FMLA Leaves 1
Technician I, Insurance 1
Technician I, Staffing 1
Instructional 3
Director of Accounting 1
Director of Treasury Services 1
Instructional/Elementary 4
Liaison, Academic Enrich Elem 3
Facilitator – SFA 4
Facilitator, SFA 23
Coach, Academic Data 1″
May 22 8:17 pm post
Ned
May 23rd, 2012
4:04 pm
to be clear, I think there’s a LOT of other things we can do to address the budget. I just find the suggestion that putting MS sports on the table is tantamount to courting an armageddon of crime a bit over the top.
Dekalb taxpayer
May 23rd, 2012
4:16 pm
It is outrageous to think of cutting middle school sports in order to save $200,000. How many administrator positions would you need to cut to save that amount of money? One and a half? Any candidates?
An idea
May 23rd, 2012
4:21 pm
Probably time to sell the North Druid Hills Rd. property. Sembler offered $60MM in 2006.
The Deal
May 23rd, 2012
4:28 pm
Hmm. Jettisoning overcharging lawyers doesn’t make the list? What about the 366 central office positions from the audit (as opposed to 73)?
Dekalbite@say what
May 23rd, 2012
4:32 pm
So what about the 90+ DeKalb Special Ed Lead Teachers, Coaches and Coordinators (termed Special Education Specialists on the Salary and Travel audit) serving 130+ schools costing $8,000,000+ a year in salary and benefits. They are in charge of paperwork for the special education program and never teach a single child.
By contrast, Gwinnett Schools has 20+ Special Education Specialists serving 130+ schools costing them around $1,700,000.
DeKalb has 7,500+ Special Education students while Gwinnett has 16,000+ Special Education students.
The requirements for Special Education Services are the same no matter what school system. If you look at the student achievement for Students with Disabilities, DCSS is not doing a better job than Gwinnett.
$8,000,000 here, $8,000,000 there – and maybe you’re talking about some real savings.
DeKalb needs to be looking at every cost center to get them in line with similar cost systems in other metro school systems, particularly in demographically comparable systems. Another good way of assessing cost centers is to look at how much per pupil is consumed by a cost center.
For example, we can see that DeKalb’s non teaching Special Ed admin and support team consumes $84 per pupil ($8,000,000 divided by 95,000 students).
By contrast, we can see that Gwinnett’s non teaching Special Ed admin and support team consumes $11 pupil ($1,700,000 divided by 150,000 students)
Of course, Gwinnett serves twice as many special education students as well so that makes this non teaching Special Ed admin and support $8,000,000 expense even more egregious.
There are several measures that can be used to see if DeKalb is in line with other systems. What measures are they using?
Say What?@ Dekalbite
May 23rd, 2012
4:53 pm
The lead teachers of special education are a joke. If an audit of compliance to the IEPs and/or ADA 504 plans were done, 100% of DCSD would be in error. These people are suppose to keep up with the paperwork and contact the parents. In actuality, they do whatever the principal tells them to do. These positions were created because special education teachers were leaving in droves as they had no chance of a promotion. Let’s create this superficial layer of administration, and still get nothing for the buck.
Speaking of Gwinnett, you do realize that they have to keep their cost down so as to qualify as a “poor” county and get DeKalb taxpayer equalization funds? So if they well without the staff, they can continue to get subsidies for what they want. My god-child who has a mild case of autism was denied special education in spite of the audiology and Babies Can’t wait reports. Her parents were told to work harder with her at home because the school could not afford to address her mild disability. This was the best thing they could have done.Parents not depending on the school for EVERY educational need of the child.
So we have some hits and misses in this continuing dialogue.
@say what
May 23rd, 2012
5:09 pm
“. These positions were created because special education teachers were leaving in droves as they had no chance of a promotion”
So the special Ed teachers were saying if you keep me as a special ed teacher, I’ll leave the system? Thus these highly paid non teaching jobs were created to make them non teachers. No wonder we’re spending $8,000,000 for 90+ personnel – works out to around $88,000 a year per employee. It’s this kind of stuff that has parents/taxpayers so angry.
bootney farnsworth
May 23rd, 2012
5:12 pm
I’m curious: what academic programs should be cut before football gets cut?
math?
language arts?
foreign language?
social studies?
bootney farnsworth
May 23rd, 2012
5:15 pm
and lets be honest – we’re talking about football.
if Maureen had lead with dumping every sport but football, there would be well less than 100 responses.
while I agree not one cent should be cut from anywhere until 1) there is a complete audit of the budget to find out what the hell happened and 2) admin gets hit first
what is so holy about football that it must survive above anything else?
and I played ball from Pop Warner thru high school