Bartow Schools Eye Layoffs, Cuts

leaders are set Monday during a special called meeting to decide on a proposed 2013 budget reduction plan that includes layoffs, program cuts and a shortened school year.

The board's scheduled votes on the proposed plan and related personnel measures comes as the system following a $15 million dip in funding from 2008 to 2011.

Superintendent John Harper presented the plan to board members during a February meeting in Rome, recommending a number of changes, including employee layoffs by way of cuts to middle and high school programs; and holding pre-k classes in the elementary schools; and moving from a 180- to a 175-day school calendar, reported. Teacher furloughs, now in their second year, would continue.

The newspaper also attempted to address alleged violations of the Georgia Open Meetings Act during the Floyd County board retreat, reporting it received an anonymous email also said to have been sent to the Bartow and state school boards. Harper and school system attorney Boyd Pettit denied violating any Sunshine statutes, but it's unclear how the Georgia Attorney General's office would interpret Harper's use of secret codes representing school system positions in downsizing discussions with the board during an open meeting.

While Harper's office failed to respond to Cartersville Patch's request for details on his budget reduction proposal, concerned parents who posted on our Facebook page said it includes nixing middle school sports programs and redistricting Taylorsville and Euharlee schools. 

In 2010, the system saw a 4.5 percent budget cut. Following for certified staff, it cut another 3 percent last year, and reducing .

Harper said continuing declines in state funding and local property tax collections necessitated the reductions, and this year the system planned to dip into its reserve, bringing it below the mandated 10 percent of expenditures.

Now school systems across the state are facing another hit related to decreasing state funding—a 200 percent jump in health care costs for classified employees, such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

During a January board meeting, Harper said Bartow Schools employ 462 of the non-certified workers, costing it $1.64 million in related health benefits. But by July 2014, , nearly $2.5 million more than its current expense.

"As we all know with the reductions we have seen in the last few years in the amount of money the state sends to us, we're not going to be able to afford that," Harper added during that meeting.

The board is expected to vote on his 2013 budget reduction plan in a called meeting immediately following a work session set for 6 p.m. Monday at the . A closed session for leaders to discuss related personnel cuts also is scheduled, with a public vote set to follow.

Cartersville Patch will provide up-to-the-minute updates throughout the meeting via a live blog beginning at 6 p.m.