Deal Proposes $280-million Give Back to Georgia School Systems

Franklin County’s School System will likely be benefiting again from some restoration funding Governor Nathan Deal is including in next year’s state budget.

Deal presented his FY16 Budget to the Georgia General Assembly this week and in it he is promising to continue to put back monies to school systems lost over the past few years to austerity cuts.

Deal’s proposed FY16 budget totals $10.9 billion dollars. Of that, he is proposing giving back $280-million to Georgia schools.

Franklin County School Superintendent Dr. Ruth O’Dell says she is hopeful the Governor’s education plan will pass in both the House and Senate.

However, she says it is too soon to tell how much the any school system will receive.

“It is time to begin putting money back into public education,” she said. “92% percent of Georgia children go to public school. So it’s real important to support financially support public education. So, until we actually see our allotment sheet, it’s hard to really tell.”

O’Dell said though she and the school’s financial director have already begun planning for next year’s budget and she said the budget committee will be looking at how best to utilize the next round of restoration funding.

According to the Superintendent, there are a number of areas where the extra money would come in handy.

“Say we do get another third back, which of these cuts should we look at next?” O’Dell asked.

Some areas O’Dell said are being considered include returning teacher supplements, restoring the fine arts program, and support for our media specialists.

“These are things that have been cut and we have to look at that,” she said.

Another option Dr. O’Dell said would be to restore the 16 days of the calendar school year that were eliminated several years ago because of the austerity cuts. and other funding shortfalls.

“Before we go back to 180 (days), we’ve got to think about our students and how much time they need,” O’Dell said. “I can tell you that some of our children really need more time. So before I would support just going back to 180 (days), we’ve got to talk about tailoring our calendar to what we really need in our system.”

Dr. O’Dell said she plans to put together a special committee to work on how to create the best use of the calendar school days.