New Gainesville BOE budget comes with a price

GAINESVILLE - The Gainesville School Board unanimously passed its no tax increase, $68.4-million budget for next year Monday night but one board member says the budget comes at a price.

David Syfan said he wants the public to know that teachers taking ten furlough days four years in a row are paying the price for no tax increase budgets and with bigger class sizes, so are students.

"The State of Georgia has reduced educational funding, the tax digest has gone down and the result of all this is we are balancing our budget by doing furloughs for everyone in the school system," Syfan said. "They've basically lost two weeks of pay and when you're not getting paid a lot to begin with it's a pretty big hit."

Syfan told fellow board members and Superintendent Merrianne Dyer he wants to put his proposal for a community education program on next month's meeting agenda.

"I feel like if we go out and educate the community about what the impacts of all these cuts are it's my hope that the community will come back to us and say we value education and we need to do more to support education in our community," Syfan added.

Syfan hopes if the public knows the impact they might be willing to accept a millage increase for the 2014 budget.

"That could be and that support could be also more people volunteering to help out at schools, but what I'm contemplating is that if the community knows the impact of these cuts they will come in and support the school system and support our kids," Syfan said.

Revenues for the FY2013 budget were $65-million and with expenses at $68.4-million and $3.4-million in fund balance money reserves was added in. Syfan pointed out that much reserve might not be there next year.

OBAMA EFFECT?

Board member Sammy Smith suggested the possibility that President Barack Obama's plan to stop deporting younger illegal immigrants could impact their school system.

Superintendent Dr. Merrianne Dyer said it could effect attendence at Woods Mill Academy since one of the requirements for staying in the U.S. is a high school diploma.

"Woods Mill would be the most expeditious path because of the flexible hours in learning," she said.

Dr. Dyer said undocumented students who dropped out of school could attend Woods Mill because they could work and attend school there. She added that the effect of Obama's plan on Gainesville schools is premature and speculative.