DeKalb schools chief tries to close $73 million gap DeKalb school board to wrestle with budget School board members. DeKalb schools, facing $70 million deficit, searches for cuts Facing deficit, DeKalb contemplates cutting 10 more school days DeKalb about to make tough budget choices with Fernbank and pre-k at risk. Brace yourselves.
Tonight’s DeKalb school board meeting on the budget is going to be dramatic. In danger is the county’s supplement to the state pre-k program, and now, revealed this morning, Fernbank Science Center, which supporters assumed was safe. But this morning Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson said she would recommend $3.2 million in cutbacks at Fernbank. School district spokesman Walter Woods told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that many of the programs and the 56 staffers would be reduced or eliminated. He said, though, that Fernbank would still operate as a “fully functional” science center. According to the AJC: On the block are popular items such as the pre-kindergarten program.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog. DeKalb schools budget: Bad becomes worse DeKalb board delays budget vote after learning it must trim $12 million more. The DeKalb County property digest is down more than the school district expected, creating a likely need to cut $12 million more At a crowded board meeting tonight, the DeKalb Board of Education — all members on hand — tabled discussing the school budget until June 20 after learning county property values were even worse than it was expecting. The board learned that it would likely have to cut $12 million more from its already scaled-down proposed budget.
DeKalb was already facing a $70 million deficit and was considering closing Fernbank Science Center and eliminating its local contribution to pre-k, which could mean fewer pre-k days. DeKalb Schools CFO Michael Perrone delivered the bad news: He expected the county property tax digest to fall 6 percent, but now projects it will drop 9 percent in value. The county was badly hit by the collapse of the real estate market in Georgia. So, Perrone is calling for $12 million more in additional cuts to reflect the downgraded property digest. Critics suspicious of school budget and cuts