Taking a first look at proposed spending for the fiscal year 2025 Bulloch County Schools budget, the Board of Education on Thursday evening heard a suggestion for a 7% raise in all employees’ base pay.

In addition to almost $2.4 million in new state funding for a $2,500 raise to teachers, the locally expanded raise would cost almost $3.84 million more in local money for salaries and benefits.

Chief Financial Officer Alison Boatright, School Improvement Assistant Superintendent Teresa Phillips and Business Services Assistant Superintendent Brad Boykin gave a detailed summary, department-by-department with slides, on proposed spending for the FY 2025 budget during the board’s April 25 work session. The new fiscal year actually begins July 1, 2024, so the goal is for the board to adopt a final budget by June 30.

Total general fund expenditures of $159.6 million, including the suggested 7% raise if approved, are projected for the 15-campus, 11,000-student school system. Salaries make up 60%, and employer contributions to benefits such as retirement plans and health insurance almost 27%, of the general fund budget, Boatright said. So, salaries and benefits together amount to $138.1 million, or almost 87%, of projected general fund spending.

Gov. Brian Kemp’s promised $2,500 raise for teachers would be incorporated into the 7% raise that Bulloch Schools staff members suggested in the tentative spending proposal. Since the Georgia General Assembly budgeted the $2,500 raise for all state-funded school personnel who are certified educators, the school district will receive state money for that portion of the overall raise.

However, the Bulloch County Schools employ more teachers and other certified personnel than those covered by the state’s Quality Basic Education, or QBE, funding formula. Additionally, the raise suggested by local staff members would add to the state funding to provide a 7% boost in base pay (but not in supplements such as those for added duties) for school employees at all levels of experience.

And as usual, the state has not funded raises for non-certified school employees, whose wages are considered a local responsibility.

Superintendent Charles Wilson noted that the $2,500 state raise is roughly equivalent to 7% of a beginning, fully certified, teacher’s salary.

“As we sat here and discussed, one of the ideas – and you know this is for your consideration,” Wilson told board members, “was … if you look at what that percentage is, a $2,500 increase as a percentage to the state base for a beginning teacher, that’s a T-4 (teaching certificate) and no years experience, is just shy of 7 percent.”

But for teachers with higher levels of certification and more experience – he used the example of a T-6 and 20 years of service – $2,500 is a much smaller percentage raise, he noted.

“The point being … is we are still competing for teachers. …,” Wilson said.

The neighboring Bryan County School System still pays more than the Bulloch County Schools and is also offering teachers a contribution toward a tax-sheltered retirement annuity, in addition to their standard participation in the state Teacher Retirement System, he noted.

Wilson added that, while competing with other school systems for teachers, the Bulloch schools are competing with industries for some support staff.

 

Not decided yet

But he did not make an official recommendation for the raise Thursday.

“It’s just something we have to think about so you can make an informed decision as to whether we want to just pass this $2,500 through and just call it a day, or (to make it) a percentage increase for more experienced teachers or a percentage increase across-the board,” Wilson told the board members. “There’s costs that come with that.”

In fact, according to the “Details of Tentatively Proposed Salary Increase” slide Boatright had presented, the almost $2.4 million state funding to Bulloch County Schools expected for the $2,500 raises would cover a little less than half the cost of just providing a full 7% base pay raise to all of the school system’s certified educators, estimated at almost $4.99 million in salary and benefits.

To also provide a 7% raise to the school district’s “classified” employees, meaning all those without teaching certificates such as paraprofessionals and custodians, would add another $1.24 million. So, the combined cost of a 7% raise in base salary for all faculty and staff would be an estimated $6.23 million. That total includes $5.04 million for actual pay increases and $1.19 million in increased benefit costs, such as the employer contribution to the Teachers Retirement System.

Subtracting the $2.39 million in state funding for the $2,500 teacher raises from the overall $6.23 million shows that $3.84 million in local funding would be needed for the locally expanded raise.

“After all of this is said and done with, we might have to drop back to some other options, but at least this shows us what that’s going to cost us, as the start to the conversation,” Wilson said.

 

Total expenses

In addition to $138.1 million in salary and benefits, the projected $159.6 million in general fund expenditures includes about $20.7 million in “departmental budgets,” such as those for school improvement, business services, technology, bus transportation, grounds, maintenance, school safety, the gifted program, academic support, CTAE (career, technical and agricultural education), student wellness and nursing, social workers and public relations, among others. Phillips and Boykin summarized changes in each department’s budget, with most showing increases, but several had reductions or no change in proposed spending.

Those departmental budgets do not include their employees’ salaries, which are in the general fund. But payments for services by independent contractors are included in some of the departmental budgets. A budget for the Board of Education itself and the members’ stipends are included as a department.

The general fund does not include the school food service, which has its own budget, or other federally funded programs which are included in a “special revenue funds” budget. But the general fund expenditures include $777,000 in “operating transfers” to the state lottery-funded prekindergarten and federal Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps programs.

However, the general fund receives the bulk of state funding, based on enrollment and program types, which makes up a large majority of the schools’ funding. It also gets the revenue from Bulloch County’s original Local Option Sales Tax, devoted to school operations, and property taxes for which the board will later set a millage rate.

Last year’s general fund included $138.5 million in expenditures, so a $159.6 million budget would be about 15% larger in terms of spending. However, after building up a large fund balance while transferring certain expenses to federal pandemic-era recovery funding two and three years ago, the district is now shifting costs back to the general fund.

 

Budget process

No revenue projections were provided last Thursday. The board is slated to receive preliminary revenue estimates during its 6:30 p.m. May 9 regular meeting. Then a May 30 special work session, which like other work sessions would be public meeting, may be called for further review of the proposed budget.

Then a motion for tentative approval could be made at the June 6 meeting, following by final approval June 27, according to a tentative timeline. If a budget is not in place before July 1, the board would need to adopt a temporary spending resolution for July.