Cobb County Schools hosted a Teacher Retirement ceremony last Friday, May 10, at Roswell Street Baptist Church . See below for a list of all the new retirees. East Cobb schools denoted with an (*).

EAST COBBER thanks these educators for their service to the community and wishes them all the best in their retirement.

After weeks of debate, the Cobb County School Board has approved a tentative budget with $86.4 million in proposed cuts for next school year.

The tentative budget will come up for a formal vote in three weeks. It was cobbled together by Board Chair Randy Scamihorn with support from board members David Banks, Brad Wheeler and Kathleen Angelucci. The group has worked to minimize the impact of the cuts on teachers and classroom sizes as much as possible.

Scamihorn’s revisions included reducing the number of cuts to in-school teaching positions from 195 to 182 while cutting the number of online teachers from 66 to 13. They recalculated the tax digest to reflect no growth, giving the district an extra $3.5 million to play with, and restored the number of teachers overseeing students serving in-school suspensions to 41 and bringing 26 part-time workers back into the classrooms.

Scamihorn presented his recommendations to Chief Financial Officer Brad Johnson in an email Monday morning.

In total, the group led by Scamihorn came up with 20 options to resolve the budget shortfall.

One key point was to draw $22.2 million from the district’s large reserves account, which currently stands at more than $100 million.

Not everyone was on board with Scamihorn’s recommendations.

Tim Stultz, Scott Sweeney and David Morgan urged their colleagues to think more about the district’s financial future and to make bigger, harder cuts now.

Stultz said the lack of cutting was “insulting.”

One area Stultz said he did not want to cut, however, was that of online teachers. An online teacher’s salary costs the district about half that of an in-school teacher.

“This really puts a dent in what we’re trying to accomplish,” Stultz said. “We need to look beyond just trying to budget this year’s budget.

“This is honestly the first time anything long term has been brought to the table as far as being able to make some longer term cuts and still be able to provide the good quality education here in Cobb County,” Stultz said. “I do have some serious concerns about going down from the 66 to the 13 (online teachers).”

Morgan asked Johnson what type of deficit the district is looking at for the next school year, to which he got a response of more than $80 million.

“We are just putting a Band-Aid on something and hoping something happens down the line when the last two or three years, it’s proven that there’s a new normal in place and what’s currently being proposed, I can’t reconcile in me to say that this is the best route for us to go as a school district, knowing that a potential $80-plus million will be staring us in the face when we sit down and have these conversations next school year,” he said.

The supporters responded

“We just keep hoping year after year but the (online classroom) concept is just a hope,” Angelucci said. “We’ve got nothing in the way of real numbers to prove that it will do what they say it will do, and I can’t with a clear conscience … increase that to something when we’re talking about an $86.4 million deficit.”

She also said she understood the need to look ahead, but it’s their duty as a board to “drill down” and look at every budget item line-by-line.

“I think that budgets have been presented to boards in the past and it’s always come out with cut teachers, increase class sizes, furlough days, no step increases and the board just says, ‘OK, that’s what we’ll do,’ instead of drilling down in all the nooks and crannies,” Angelucci said. “It’s a difficult job and a big job, but at the end of the day, it’s something we’re going to have to do.”

She said a majority of the emails she’s received since the budget discussions were started, involved parents who were concerned about the possibility of increased class sizes.

“We can’t continue to stuff children in classrooms and expect real instruction to take place,” she said. “We can’t continue to keep doing what we’ve been doing to our teachers. At some point that has to stop because if we want to continue to get the caliber of teachers that we currently have, then we need to give them the respect of diving into this.”

She accepted the budget with some hesitations, though, saying she is still concerned with the five furlough days being used on instructional days.

“I’m having real heartburn with that,” she said.

The tentative budget can still be tweaked in the meantime, and a final budget is scheduled to be approved May 16.

Before then, the board will have opportunities to have more in-depth conversations during their May 8 work session and to get feedback from the public at a May 14 hearing.

More details about the proposed tentative budget can be found on the district’s website at cobbk12.org.

Superintendent’s thoughts

Cobb Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said after the meeting that he does worry about some of the nuances in Scamihorn’s revised budget.

“I was hoping we could move forward with expanding our (online) learning,” he said. “That was one way we could start looking at reducing costs over time, but by only having a few dollars to do that, we won’t be able to gauge on that.”

The program will cost nearly $1 million to implement next school year if the 13 teaching positions are approved in the final budget.

Hinojosa also addressed Angelucci’s and Banks’ concerns about the impact on the classroom and the board’s passion in salvaging that.

“No one wants to have fewer teachers,” he said. “We all feel that impact. Nobody is happy about being in this situation. I don’t fault them for this passion. We were trying to look a little bit down the road so we wouldn’t be here this time next year.”

(Reprinted from the Marietta Daily Journal. Written by Lindsay Field, April 30, 2013. Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – Cobb settles on tentative budget cuts Cutting 182 teachers dipping into reserve keys to 86 4M deficit trim)

Cobb County School Board members continue to be split on how they want to balance next year’s budget and resolve an expected $86.4 million deficit.

The group has pushed back the approval date for its tentative fiscal year 2014 budget from Thursday night to April 29.

The board met for nearly four hours Monday afternoon to debate a list of 50 possible recommendations — 18 that are definite options to fix the budget woes and the other 32 that are ideas for the board to consider.

Four of the members — Brad Wheeler, Randy Scamihorn, David Banks and Kathleen Angelucci — were adamant the budget changes not impact classroom size and teaching positions.

“As a board, we need to make decisions that are directed at the kids,” Wheeler said.

He recommended the district look at specific budget cuts like dipping further into the reserves, halting staff development and travel and moving central office personnel back into the schools.

“If you aren’t in the classroom, you’re vulnerable,” Wheeler said.

Scamihorn agreed but added more possibilities.

He suggested decreasing the recommended teaching position cuts from 226 to 195, increasing the administrative cuts from 24 to 34 and increasing personnel cuts in the central office from 12.5 to 16.

“That doesn’t mean I’m satisfied with the other (budget resolutions), but I’m trying to move forward here,” Scamihorn said.

On the other end of the spectrum were Scott Sweeney and David Morgan, who continue to ask the board to keep its eye on the district’s future.

“In good conscience, I can’t vote for a budget that is kicking the can down the road,” Morgan said. “We would be well served to look at items that aren’t one-time fixes.”

His recommendations to resolve the current and future budgets were to cut high-cost items, such as the salary step increase valued at $10 million, and saving the district about $6.8 million by looking at half-day kindergarten, a four-day school week and cutting 295 teaching positions and media paraprofessionals.

“I think our teachers, our taxpayers, all stakeholders, they deserve for us not only to make the hard decisions now but also project forward so that we can put ourselves in the best position possible in these very trying times,” he said.

Angelucci said she understood what Morgan was saying but indicated that nothing “out there” shows that the financial status of the country will continue as it has in recent years.

“We need to consider how it affects teachers in the long term. … Look at the bigger picture,” she said.

“But we need to deal with what is, not what will be,” Morgan responded.

Sweeney also said that until the district has “confidence in the numbers,” they should be “exceptionally” cautious.

An individual budget proposal

For the second time during this year’s budget talks, Banks presented his own version of the budget.

“Working on the budget is a trying experience,” he said before giving his line-by-line explanation of how he created the budget, which he developed alone and presented to the board Monday afternoon.

According to the budget Banks presented, the district would bring in about $823.4 million revenues for fiscal year 2014 and spend about $862.6 million, leaving a $39.2 million shortfall.

Chief Financial Officer Brad Johnson’s staff has estimated the district will bring in about $807.6 million in revenue and spend $894 million.

Banks’ budget also listed nine solutions to fix the deficit, including using a total of $24.7 million from the reserves, imposing five furlough days, eliminating five instructional days and adding 200 part-time employees.

Angelucci thanked Banks for his efforts.

“I want to thank Mr. Banks for trying to look at this in a different way,” she said. “I think that his aim is true, he’s trying to save teachers’ jobs … because that affects our students in the classroom.”

Board members asked questions about Banks’ suggestions, but Johnson spent the most time trying to understand it.

“I don’t agree with this proposal. There is at least $20 million missing (from his budget figures),” Johnson said. “I have grave concerns about these numbers. I appeal to the board.”

Johnson also said that it’s hard to budget on the previous year’s budget like Banks has. He used numbers from the fiscal year 2012 financial report.

“Every year is in its own universe,” he said. “If I budget on last year … I might miss something.”

Johnson also said a number of times that the deficit continues to be $86.4 million, and while he thought Banks had some good comments, he warned the board to be careful.

Scamihorn said he agreed with Johnson’s worries and said he didn’t mean to challenge the chief financial officer’s department, but “sometimes the new guy can bring forward good ideas as well.”

Public response to possible cuts

Another topic the board talked about was in response to the numerous phone calls and emails they have received regarding what is being referred to as a “below the line” item, which has been defined as an idea but not an actual proposal for FY14.

Among Johnson’s 50 suggestions is a line item that cuts elementary through high school arts and music programs. This could save the district about $23.6 million in total.

“We did say that nothing is off the table. … This stimulated an outcry because in Cobb County, it’s something we would never touch,” Angelucci said.

She also asked why arts would be on the budget resolutions but not athletics, and Hinojosa said he would bring back the cost of potential athletics savings at the next budget meeting.

Scamihorn said he received that same number of emails and phone calls, but said there was a good reason for such an extensive list from the district.

“The intent was to have a laundry list to give us and the public choices,” he said.

(Reprinted from the Marietta Daily Journal. Written by by Lindsay Field, April 23, 2013. Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – Budget still splits school board Tentative date to resolve 86 4M deficit pushed back)

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Nearly a third of the Cobb School Board’s nine-hour meeting on Wednesday was dedicated to talking about next year’s budget and how to resolve an $86.4 million deficit.

The fiscal year 2014 budget must be approved by the board no later than June 30, according to state law. The district’s chief financial officer has the board on tap to adopt a tentative budget on April 25 and the official budget on May 16.

At the board’s budget meeting before spring break, members asked CFO Brad Johnson and his staff to bring them more options.

His initial proposal included 13 options, and the recommendation brought before them Wednesday had 18 definite ideas for cuts, along with 32 other possibilities, if needed.

The 18 definites included drawing $22.2 million from the district’s reserves; considering $10 million in lapse from the previous year’s balance; five furlough days for all employees; reducing teaching positions by 226, administrative by 24 and central office by 12.5; and decreasing postage use by 15 percent.

Some of what Johnson referred to as “below the line” options, which were quite extreme, include Cobb examining its legal fee budget; not allowing for a salary increase next year; eliminating art and music programs; or getting rid of all media paraprofessionals.

Johnson also spoke to the items his staff and the Cobb Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s cabinet decided to remove from the original list altogether.

They decided not to get rid of magnet school and Boys and Girls Club bus services, not increase the distance to which high school students would be picked up by bus or outsource custodial services.

Chris Ragsdale, deputy superintendent of operations, said they chose not to outsource janitorial services because it would have too much of an impact on employees.

North Cobb’s Kathleen Angelucci said she agreed with the janitors not being cut for more than financial reasons.

“It’s not just about the money,” she said. “They form relationships with children … there’s also a safety aspect of it.”

There was some concern by the board at its last meeting that the extensive background checks in place for Cobb Schools employees might not be enforced for an out-of-district custodial agency.

Johnson’s staff also changed some of the numbers they recommended in position cuts.

Teacher reductions dropped from 295 to 226, and administrators from 34 to 24. Central office personnel cuts increased from 7.5 to 12.5 and the number of teachers participating in the district’s online learning program from 66 to 132.

Some still question the budget recommendations

After making his presentation, Johnson accepted questions, recommendations and changes from the board.

David Banks, who represents northeast Cobb, presented a budget that he created on his own.

“The taxpayers gave us this money to use in the classroom, not sit in the bank,” he said. “My budget has no cuts in jobs … we’re balancing the budget on the personnel, on our teachers.”

Banks has been passionate about keeping all funding in the classroom if possible and has questioned all along why the district hasn’t used more money from its reserves, which sits around $100 million.

District policy requires that the reserves contain at least one month’s operations costs, or about $71 million.

Banks’ budget included the district’s giving employees back a half-step salary increase, keeping administrators and adding 200 part-time teachers for about $5 million.

“The budget is fictional numbers … guesses,” he said to his colleagues.

Board Chair Randy Scamihorn, who represents northwest Cobb, asked Banks if he thought Johnson’s numbers were wrong, to which he replied that he thought they were “way overstated.”

Scamihorn also asked for an explanation from Banks about the potential classroom size increase of 10 that he put on the table.

“I hesitate to concur with a number like that,” Scamihorn said.

The question of class size was also a concern by Angelucci.

She submitted a list of 10 specific questions to Johnson, Hinojosa and the board during the meeting, and one specifically addressed exactly how many extra students would be added at each grade level.

Deputy Superintendent Cheryl Hungerford said they were looking at two for middle and high schools and one for fourth- and fifth-grade classes.

Angelucci was persistent in the district considering the classroom in their budget proposals.

“I want us to think about the climate that our employees are working under … doing more with less,” she said. “We’ve got to put a face to this and at the end of the day see how this impacts our kids.”

Other board members caution of what it could mean for future

Other board members were cautious about only protecting the classroom and more on board with considering the district’s budget in long term.

“None of this is easy, all of these are very difficult and challenging decisions, but my big red flag is when we use one-time money for recurring costs,” said David Morgan in southwest Cobb.

Scott Sweeney, who represents east Cobb, agreed.

“We have to be extremely cautious about the expenditures of one-time money,” he said. “Until we have any confidence in the economy and the economy demonstrates that it’s growing … we do not have any assurance that we are on an upward path.”

Sweeney also warned the board about drawing too much money from its reserve account.

“If we start dipping into this piggy bank, the pot of gold as its been referenced to on a regular basis, eventually it’s not there, and we have a responsibility to maintain a fund balance,” he said.

The board will hold its next budget meeting on Monday at 2 p.m. in the central office boardroom, 514 Glover St. in Marietta.

For more information about the budget, visit Cobb Schools at cobbk12.org. There is also a section for public comments.

(Reprinted from the Marietta Daily Journal. Written by Lindsay Field, April 18, 2013. Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – School board hears new proposals for dealing with deficit)