Before the Richmond County Board of Education approved a 2013-14 budget that included a property tax increase, layoffs and an extra furlough day, board member Jimmy Atkins wanted to clear the air.
“We value the staff of this county,” he said. “We value the hard work. The (Criterion Referenced Competency Tests) results this week showed the hard work that the folks have done. We’re being asked to do more with less, and people can get mad with this board if they want to, but the fact of the matter is we’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got to work with, and if they want to get mad with somebody – I’ve said it time and time again – they need to go talk to their state legislators and their federal legislators because that’s where the cuts are coming from. They’re not coming from anyone sitting around this table here.”
Citing steep state funding cuts, the board on Thursday approved a $233 million budget that includes the elimination of 135 positions and nine furlough days, one extra than what was proposed in the initial budget approved earlier this month. Atkins and board member Barbara Pulliam voted no while Jack Padgett was absent.
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