The Hall County Board of Education grappled with “philosophical issues” as it discussed ways to continue to function with a tight budget next year.
Superintendent Will Schofield said the board will have some fairly large philosophical discussions as it continues its budget talks over the next month.
The district’s fiscal year 2013 budget, which ends on July 1, is currently projected to spend approximately 30 percent of its savings, or $5 million.
The proposed budget for fiscal year 2014 is at $283.8 million. State revenue is expected to increase by about $2 million. However, the system will spend an additional $3.5 million on increased heath insurance and teacher retirement costs.
Schofield said while the system is employing the same number of people as it did last year, the increased costs pose an extra challenge to balancing the budget.
“Let’s remember that about 87 percent of our budget is people,” Schofield said. “And we’ve picked up 1,200 students in the last five years and we’re running on a budget that is $18 million less than we did for fiscal year 2008. I think what that translates into is people are doing a whole lot more with a whole lot less and they’re doing an incredible job of doing that without complaining.”
via Hall schools board discusses options to balance budget | GainesvilleTimes.com.
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