[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:03] Good evening, everyone. I am Joy Telis Cooper district eight school board member with the Claim County Board of Education. And tonight we are having a conversation with the Claim County Board of Education about our fiscal year 2026 budget. But before we start, I want to go over a few guidelines for tonight's meeting. The chat feature has been disabled for participants due to the expected number of attendees, but you'll be able to type your questions using
[0:33] the question and answer feature at the bottom of your screen. Please know we may not be able to answer
[0:39] all of the questions in this form, but all questions will be saved to create a frequently asked
[0:47] question document that will be shared with the public. All attendees will be able to view the
[0:53] questions that have been answered. This webinar is being recorded and will be shared to the public
[0:59] for public review along with the frequently asked question document and full presentation.
[1:06] So I'll go right into the purpose of this meeting tonight. So we felt it was necessary to have
[1:12] this conversation due to the short timing of our state required public meeting and to accommodate
[1:19] and listen to and communicate with our staff and our constituents directly.
[1:26] Dr. Haney.
[1:27] Hello, everyone. I'm Dr. D. Haney District 5 here in Clayton County. I want to say thank you all for taking time to be with us and have this conversation.
[1:35] This will be a very candid conversation where we as board members will be listening to your concerns and address whatever concerns may come up.
[1:42] As a result of this 2026 tentative budget, we will respect what you all have to say as much as you respect as to what our replies are because we are as you all still digging into this.
[1:53] making sense of this budget to make sure that we meet the needs of our staff district as well as our community so we are very open to what you have to say what we're open to you all listening to us be open to us that is to what we have to give you as of the documents as of the budget in itself so again we are here for you to listen and then we're here to respond accordingly.
[2:16] Thank you.
[2:22] Ms. Baker.
[2:25] Okay. Good evening. I'm Mary Baker District 6. This is not my
[2:30] first rodeo when it comes to a budget. They're different every single year. One
[2:35] of the things that you will notice is you're going to see this fund balance and
[2:39] you're going to say, oh, they've got plenty of money in there. You also have to be
[2:43] aware that we need to keep at least three months of operating budget in the
[2:51] in the fund balance. And that is to cover any expenses, the way that the state pays us,
[2:57] you know, we're waiting. So we need to make sure that we have the operating budget also. So
[3:03] please just take that in mind because when you see that great big number, you're going to say,
[3:07] oh, they've got plenty, plenty. I wish we did. So that's just my little two cents worth for the evening.
[3:15] So tonight, as you've heard from the three panelists, our goal basically in a nutshell as a board is to present transparency about the budget.
[3:27] So we'll go ahead and review the budget.
[3:31] And once the budget is reviewed, we'll have a Q&A at the end.
[3:35] So tonight's conversation with the board members we are reviewing the fiscal year 2026 superintendent tentative proposed budget.
[3:45] We've already passed the proposed budget and now we're going to pass finalize the final budget on the 27th.
[3:53] Next slide.
[3:53] So,
[3:56] these are just some of the superintendent's priorities in one through five to cultivate
[4:01] a school safety culture and promote a positive working environment, increase academic achievement,
[4:07] maintain a financially stable and sustainable stability, sorry about that,
[4:15] strengthen organizational structure and enhance in front to structures and new facilities.
[4:22] I am so sorry about that. Sorry about that, Dr. Smith. So tonight, what we're going to do
[4:30] is we're going to talk about our budget. We're talking about a $1.5 billion budget. So
[4:36] we're breaking it down into these five buckets. So we'll start with the special revenue budget
[4:42] and what that does. So legally, it's just restricted budgets used to account for our grants
[4:48] that's that we have that's coming through.
[4:50] So that's one bucket that we're talking about.
[4:53] Then we have our capital project funds.
[4:55] And that's used, that's where our blocks projects,
[4:58] that includes our buildings.
[5:00] If you see these beautiful buildings
[5:01] that we're building within Clayton County,
[5:03] that's what that is, renovation repairs,
[5:06] HVAC buses, we've been talking a lot about buses
[5:09] and any capital outlay projects.
[5:11] So that's where that money lays in that capital project fund.
[5:16] And then we have our enterprise fund, which those are used for like our nutrition, our campus kids, that's our before and after care programs, performing arts, athletics, our print services. So that's where that money lies.
[5:29] And then we have a new bucket, which is our debt service fund, which is the bonds that we took on and that the community voted on for us to do.
[5:39] But tonight what we're focusing on is our general fund.
[5:42] That's where 88% of the fund goes. That's for the salaries and the budgets. Any operation for the day-to-day operation of teacher salaries and benefits.
[5:56] So for our proposed budget, our general fund, there has been a lot of conversation about what raises and what we can do.
[6:07] So, basically, what we've done is the superintendent came back with five options for what we may be able to do for teachers as far as, like, what staff for raises.
[6:19] What I can say is I won't go a lot into this tonight because as of today, we were talking to the superintendent and they are in the process of rebapping and coming back with several other different options.
[6:32] but what I do want to focus on tonight is our fiscal year 2025 approved budget that we
[6:39] passed last year. So basically, if you look at the bottom, the revenues, we were 32.2 million
[6:47] dollars that we had to go into that lovely general fund that Ms. Baker was talking about earlier.
[6:53] So basically, that means we had to go into our savings account last year to get that money out
[7:00] to cover all that we gave last year. Last year, there was a lot of incentives that was given, we had the 1x1500 bonus that we did, the 1,250 attendance bonus that we also gave and also during the spring break, it was $500 and what I do want everyone to understand is we as a board.
[7:24] We want to see and be able to give everyone what they deserve when it is possible.
[7:34] But we know that in Washington there's some things that are going on.
[7:38] There's some things coming down the pipe.
[7:39] There's so many uncertainties that we really have to be fiscally responsible for not just this upcoming year but years to come.
[7:50] which means that we need to forecast. We need to continue to forecast years out to make sure that we're not
[7:57] spending more than what we're bringing in. So I do just want to, I'm not going to stay on this slide for very long,
[8:03] but I do want everyone to know and understand that as a board and along with the superintendent and his staff,
[8:10] we are working through some things and we are trying to come up with what would be the best possible option for everyone that's concerned.
[8:19] kind of like they said we want to win win on this next slide. Okay so the TRS
[8:28] employment portion, we wanted to let you know that there's been an increase so
[8:32] it went from 20.78% to now 21.91%. So that shows that that's a 12.7 million
[8:40] dollar increase. Now the district absorbs the cost of the unfunded certified staff
[8:48] So that means that's an additional $4 million that we're having to absorb that will be coming
[8:53] out of the general fund. So it's partially funded mandate. Next slide. The classified health
[9:01] insurance employer portion increased by $3,390 to $20,040 per year per person and that is district
[9:12] so that's an $11.9 million. So the district absorbs that full amount and that full cost. So that's
[9:21] another expense to us. So that's an unfunded mandate. Next.
[9:28] So here is just the proposed general
[9:30] fund summary. So the beginning fund balance as of July 1st, 2025 is 160 million and then you see our
[9:40] our projected revenues and our projected expenditures.
[9:44] If you look and you notice, of course,
[9:46] our expenses are more than our revenues,
[9:48] which means that we will be left with a loss
[9:51] of 12.2 million dollars that we have to make up somewhere.
[9:55] So we'll be taking that money out of what I was talking about
[9:58] earlier, a fun balance kind of like our savings.
[10:01] And that's one of the things that we are trying to figure out here
[10:05] is how can we make it work with being fiscally responsible
[10:11] and not staying in the rent as far as with expenditures?
[10:16] So next.
[10:18] So this is just a breakdown by the expenditures,
[10:22] by function, if you look and you see,
[10:25] we always say that what do we spend in the money on?
[10:29] And we are always, and we should be student focused.
[10:33] So, if you look at this chart, you'll see that instructions, most of that is going towards
[10:39] instructions.
[10:39] That's 59.6% that's going towards instructions.
[10:43] So, the pupil services, of course you see that's 5.5 and if you look down, you'll see where
[10:49] the money is going and how it's being allocated.
[10:52] So, this is just a great chart to look at so you can always see, I'm a visual person so
[10:59] I always want to look in and see where's the money going and the money is going.
[11:03] to where it should be going. Next slide.
[11:08] So here we have the expenditures by object. So it shows
[11:13] that most of 57.7 is going towards salaries. It's going towards you know our teachers and then the
[11:21] benefit and our staff not just our teachers but our staff. And then the benefits of course you know we
[11:26] had a increase but it's 28.3% which kind of makes up that 80 something percent that I was talking
[11:34] about early in the very beginning. So this is just a breakdown of by object. Now I know there was a
[11:41] question about earlier today and our earlier this week and our budget meeting about the others.
[11:49] What is other purchases? What is other expenses? What is other uses? So we have been working with our
[11:55] CFO and that's just really a drill down to be able to say this is what falls up under that category.
[12:01] So, it hasn't been ignored, it has been heard, and we are working on it as a team.
[12:08] Next slide.
[12:10] So here, the reason this slide is in here, because there's a lot of questions, and I know I want the teachers to and the staff staff all, but, you know, to know that we hear you, we understand.
[12:29] and we feel you and we know and we want to do more for you.
[12:34] But if you look at this chart here, the comparison between Clayton County and Atlanta.
[12:41] So we compared Atlanta because it's more compatible and comparable to us.
[12:47] We have 52,675 enrollment. They have 50,000.
[12:53] So, I'm illiterate 19.6. There's this 20.50. But if you look at their net digest and what they have, their tax basis versus hours, it shows a huge gap in what they have coming in versus what we have coming in.
[13:11] So, we just kind of wanted to show you,
[13:14] because some people say, oh well, APS is giving this amount.
[13:19] And we would love to be able to do what APS is doing.
[13:25] But we also have to be very fiscally responsible
[13:28] and very careful about how we're spending our money,
[13:33] when we're spending my money, and where we're spending it,
[13:36] especially in the time like this as far as we are so unsure
[13:40] or as to what is going on in Washington,
[13:43] how many cuts we're gonna have,
[13:44] and how much money we're gonna lose if any.
[13:48] Next slide.
[13:53] So with that, I just want to put out some remaining dates
[13:57] that we have.
[13:58] We had our first public hearing on Monday,
[14:01] May the 5th at 11 a.m.
[14:04] We'll have our second public hearing
[14:06] on the 27th of March at 5.30.
[14:10] However, the reason that we,
[14:12] like I said before in the beginning that we're having these meetings is because on that date, we will also be
[14:19] voting on the final adoption of this budget and the tentative
[14:24] adoption of the Millage Rate on the 27th at 6 p.m.
[14:29] Once you hear the second public hearing, we think it's very important that we hear from you. We want to hear from you.
[14:35] We want to have this honest conversation as to what you see, what we could do better and
[14:42] how you're feeling. You're very important to us. We cherish and we know that we can't do any of this
[14:49] without the teachers or any of the staff. So we want you tonight to have that honest conversation
[14:55] with us so we can talk through this and we can also get go back to the super.
[15:00] And have these crucial conversations about what we can and we cannot do. The militia rate public hearing, that's to be determined at late July, early August. And then we have a final militia rate adoption in August.
[15:18] So comments. Again, this slide, it just shows all of my board members, my on here, starting with Ben Straker, who is our chair. It's Mary Baker, who's on this
[15:32] Uh, discussion tonight as the vice chair, Jasmine Bowles.
[15:35] She's district one, Mark Christmas district two.
[15:38] We have Dr. Jessie Goree who is district three, our past chair.
[15:42] We have Victoria Williams district four, Dehaney district five, Sabrina district seven.
[15:48] And I am district eight.
[15:50] So we put this up here because we want you to know that we are available.
[15:55] And we want to hear from you.
[15:57] We want to hear from you.
[15:58] We want to be transparent with you.
[16:00] and we want a win-win in this situation and I know working together and
[16:04] us discussing and going over this tonight and then going back to the table with
[16:09] the superintendent. We can come to some type of compromise where we come up with
[16:14] a win-win situation. So now I'll turn it over to Kim for our Q&A.
[16:21] Okay so the most the most questions are obviously about are we gonna get a step
[16:28] increase. Are we going to get a raise because neighboring counties are offering, Henry's offering a
[16:35] $3,000 increase, Fulton, 2.5% and a step, Cobb, 4.6% and a reduction of work days. Anyway,
[16:48] and all we're getting is a one time 1500 with no cola and no step. So that kind of sums up most
[16:57] of the questions I'm getting? Because how are we going to retain veteran teachers and recruit
[17:05] new hires if we're not doing anything that the neighboring counties are doing, okay? Mary,
[17:14] a DG, you want to take it or do you want me to take it?
[17:19] Okay. We are looking at that and I do understand
[17:24] the concerns that we have as a district as other competitors within the different counties.
[17:31] And that is one reason why we're looking at this and more depth and more discussion on that
[17:36] I too would like for our teacher staff to get those raises, those steps and ensure that I mean
[17:43] because I'm going to be real with you all. You all looking at long-term retirement. So an incentive,
[17:50] I should not, this is just me, I should have to incentivize you to come to work.
[17:55] You also want to come to work for the why, which is the children, okay?
[17:59] But on the flip side of that, I do want to ensure that you have a comfortable retirement
[18:05] because these steps, these raises and these coldest factor into that.
[18:12] And so we're going to give TRS and we're increasing that, then it's only fair that we increase
[18:16] and we give you all the raises that we have to go back.
[18:19] I'm just one district, but however, as a board collectively and we talk with the superintendent to see the different options
[18:26] As see what we have that can sustain us. Yes, I'm all for it
[18:30] I am for that
[18:31] And so I have to make sure that my colleagues that we are all on one even though we may have differing opinions thoughts perspectives
[18:37] However, we have to remember where we are as a district as a county what we're bringing in as a revenue to them
[18:45] It's supported
[18:46] We always go back to what the military know the military know what we're looking at right now
[18:51] It's a budget to make sure that we can sustain those three things I am advocating for and I'm hoping that my colleagues as well
[18:58] But again as Miss tell us Cooper stated and Miss Baker stated we have to see where we are as a how we can sustain it
[19:06] But at the same time I
[19:07] And you know, after speaking with our finance department, how can we at least get to five or how can it at least me or mitigate the report as a word for this or not that we have to be those districts because we're not.
[19:24] We may have more student count, but our money is an economic term, let's keep it real, we don't have.
[19:31] So we have to look at the whole scheme of things, that's what makes this money come in to be able to sustain our teachers.
[19:38] Because everything and I'm just going to keep it real, we've seen some lead and we've seen some come back after they've seen what has happened.
[19:45] So I don't want us to ever go back and that's it for tax situation as a district.
[19:49] They offer more and then you leave and then you find out different and you come back and then here it is again
[19:53] And then we're still saying with your incentivizing us dr. D
[19:57] I want to do more and so hopefully we can come to this medium
[20:00] What we can give you more as of your cola as of your raises and as of those steps
[20:05] And so I'm advocating for that so just know that as miss Cooper said we are working together and collectively to hear
[20:11] The options that the superintendent has and hopefully we can go into that fund balance and see how we can sustain that
[20:17] to be able to take care of our staff here in this district.
[20:21] Ms. Baker?
[20:23] I would just like to add, there, I think it's safe to say there's not a board member
[20:27] here who wouldn't want to give everybody what they deserve, plus them.
[20:32] And that is something that we go through every year.
[20:35] We will never have enough money to pay you what you're worth.
[20:39] And that's just a sad part of our community, our society, I could go off on my little tangent
[20:45] of who gets paid more than they should in the real world, but what we're talking about
[20:50] is here and now. So with that being said, all of us want to do that. But the other part
[20:56] of that is, will I be able to sustain that for next year for you? I've been on the board
[21:04] long enough going back to around 2010 where we had to do staff reduction. And we, because
[21:13] of something that the state did, we literally had to take back some money. So I never, never want to
[21:18] be in that situation again. And this is why we're coming to you to show you what it looks like
[21:23] to be honest and as forthcoming as we can be. Again, if we can figure out how to do better, I pray we do.
[21:34] Thanks. There's another question about the three months operating costs being 147 million.
[21:43] That seems excessive to this person.
[21:47] So can you address that?
[21:49] Is that the real value of three months?
[21:57] My understanding from talking with Ms. Bivens, R-C-F-O,
[22:03] actually 147 is a little low.
[22:05] That is everybody's salary.
[22:07] That's T-R-S. That's benefits.
[22:09] it's, uh, it's the electricity, uh, everything that you can imagine is involved in that.
[22:17] And one of the things is is we do not get paid from the state until later in the year.
[22:23] And so we do need to have that.
[22:25] And as you all know, it wasn't that long ago that we had a surprise called COVID, um, so just
[22:32] like everybody else's personal funds, we have to have something there for a rainy day.
[22:36] And so that's where that number comes from.
[22:39] And can I add just a little bit to that too.
[22:43] Miss Baker she she hit the nail on the head.
[22:46] As far as we do not have that three months of savings and we.
[22:51] Again are.
[22:53] It's uncertain.
[22:55] But what I do want the teachers to know just to go back teachers and staff.
[22:59] I keep saying teachers, but teachers is one of the vital parts.
[23:02] We have all parts of vital, but when we say teachers it's because that's the conversation
[23:08] that has been going on lately, as far as with the raises.
[23:13] We would love to give everyone raises, as Ms. Baker was saying, but we have to keep.
[23:19] It is important that we keep a healthy budget.
[23:24] It is so important that we keep a healthy budget.
[23:26] And with that, the 32 million that I was talking about before, that was excessive.
[23:35] We had to get rid of, this is a bad word to say.
[23:40] But some of the vacancies we had to collapse, some of the positions we had to let go.
[23:46] And that was just to safeguard and to keep us from having an unhealthy budget.
[23:53] It is very important.
[23:54] I don't want to see a person leave this county and I definitely don't want to see a person leave this county because of money
[24:01] But I also want individuals to understand that sometimes during tough times
[24:05] We all have to rally together for the betterment of the calls and the organization as a whole and
[24:12] This is just one year. This is the school year 2026
[24:16] So there's years to come and I understand I always say this I understand people have to do what's best for their family
[24:23] but me as a board, one board member,
[24:26] I don't wanna see anybody leave this county.
[24:30] Again, like I said, we are going to the table
[24:32] to talk to the superintendent.
[24:34] Again, he's gonna come back with options,
[24:36] but we may still not be able to meet that ground
[24:40] for those options.
[24:41] And I don't wanna self-false dreams to anyone,
[24:44] but I really wish and hope and pray
[24:48] that we come to something where we can supplement
[24:53] our employees with more than what we had proposed in the beginning. But again, we just don't know, we don't know what's coming down from Washington.
[25:04] Okay. Another question. Well, there's two of them that seem to be coming back up. One is we keep saying teachers, but we're not talking about parapros who do not make a living wage at this point.
[25:18] and we're not talking about administrators who also work very hard. So are those positions
[25:26] being addressed as well? Absolutely. We're looking at the totality of everything. The superintendent
[25:34] will, we will have a three on three strategic meetings that are coming up and that will be part
[25:40] of what we talk about. We're looking at it as a whole. Yes, we keep saying teachers, but we're looking
[25:46] edit as a whole. Another question, this person wants to live and work in the
[25:52] same county but a one bedroom apartment in Clayton County costs $2,000. This
[25:59] person has a master's degree with five years experience however they don't
[26:03] make enough to even qualify for a one bedroom apartment in this county.
[26:10] This person cares about retirement but they also need to make ends meet. How do
[26:14] address this.
[26:20] So,
[26:23] unfortunately, as far as with that, that's an unfortunate situation. I think
[26:29] we are all, even if we're not in the educational industry, we are all at some kind of way facing
[26:38] tough times, depending on where we stand. We are in a new world, a new norm. Everything is going up.
[26:49] the cost of living is going to food but also the cost within the school systems too are going up.
[26:57] So our light bills are going up. Our water bills are going up. Everything is going up. So
[27:03] although it is disheartening to me as one person to even hear things like that.
[27:13] And we are just we're in trying times. And this is one of those times where we're really just going
[27:20] to have to kind of buckle down, try to make it through this and come out on the other side,
[27:28] which will be the bright side. But this is one year where we really just have to be,
[27:34] we have to be physically responsible every year, but this is one year we really need to be watching
[27:39] what we're doing, how we're spending and what we're spending it on.
[27:45] Ms. Joy, if I can just add on another thing we need to do is look at partnerships with
[27:54] the county.
[27:55] There are other counties, there's other cities that the county works with apartment complexes
[28:01] and such to give a discount to teachers, first responders, something like that.
[28:09] I haven't seen it here.
[28:10] I would love to see it here, but that is going to take people reaching out to their commissioners to say, hey, we could really use this.
[28:21] How can you and the school system and the developers work together for this?
[28:27] I have said it before, if you've gone down Mount Zion, they've just put in, I think there's a total seven apartment complexes in there and three of them are new.
[28:38] And these developers are coming in from somewhere else and setting these up and walking out the door and I can get on myself box.
[28:48] But I'm just going to say please reach out to your commissioners and see if there's a way that we can do some kind of partnership to help out those who are I call
[28:59] essential teachers, staff, or essential.
[29:02] Thanks.
[29:04] Okay.
[29:05] Two, I'd like to add something.
[29:07] Kim, if you could put that question back up,
[29:09] I'd have to question what has been
[29:11] as the different districts in these percentages.
[29:16] I'd like to get to know,
[29:18] and maybe we can work with our superintendent,
[29:19] the finance team, or even the board,
[29:22] and have our liaison, Kim, send out something to the staff.
[29:25] And I say the staff, the totality of this district.
[29:28] To find out, particularly with our teachers and even staff and
[29:32] yourself, you all mentioned the variations as of each district,
[29:37] what they're offering, as a full-ton, cop, a land and all that.
[29:43] I like to get to know, or I like to know the poll from our, from our, from our
[29:48] district. What would you think would be feasible because I keep saying the
[29:52] 147 million in the comments and you see the budget as attentively how it is now.
[30:00] I'd like to know from you from the options that was mentioned in the chat in the question and answers, which one will be feasible for you based on what we have so we can hear your thoughts, rather than us for you're just taking the same information out of the options that you've provided you sent out there, that's facts that you shown us what folks and mates, what caught mates, allowing so forth. Based on what we have tentatively, what would be feasible for you all based on what we have in our budget?
[30:28] it and what to move us forward or what can sustain us. Maybe we can get a poll on that so
[30:35] that we can get a better broader perspective to hear your voice so that we can go back
[30:41] to the table and say, hey, this is a majority of what the district is looking at as of
[30:45] our teachers, staff, parents, and everybody involved. So how can we possibly meet that need
[30:51] if we can? That way we can gauge and say, okay, rather than have a set stone of hearing
[30:57] is right here and we're trying to please everybody know that we can't. However, let's try to come
[31:02] to a medium where we can and we can still sustain. So I want to see that if we could possibly get
[31:09] that gone and maybe can we can have an offline conversation have this with on the chair and maybe
[31:14] the cabinet and Dr. Smith. I would like to just gauge that thought and ask me go back as a board.
[31:21] We can look at that and see how we can be sustainable in that effort.
[31:25] One of the suggestions to that point, and I've seen a couple of them actually, were the
[31:33] fact that Cobb County is reducing their work days. Would there be any way to maybe reduce
[31:40] some of those PD days that's been suggested?
[31:48] I don't know if that is feasible, but that
[31:51] is something that was in the chat. So with that, Dr. Smith, he will come back with some options.
[32:00] Maybe that's one of the options. We don't know. But we will definitely, when we have that
[32:04] three on three session with him, we will definitely communicate. And I'm sure he will also be
[32:10] communicating with the community. What we've come up with before there is a final vote. I do not
[32:17] want to have a final vote on this budget until we have heard from as many people as possible.
[32:24] And to that point, we've had several people say they noticed that the public meeting,
[32:30] that the last public meeting is 527 and that's also the day that is going to be the vote.
[32:36] Will our participation really make a difference? Absolutely. Absolutely. So, um, example,
[32:44] D are married. Do you want to take this? No. Okay. So absolutely. So today, just like today,
[32:51] we are in talks with the superintendent and he's coming back with several options. So your voice
[32:57] does matter and your voice is working. So we want to hear what you have to say. So that's why we are
[33:06] having this meeting and we're encouraging individuals to continue to call, email us. That's why we
[33:13] you put our email addresses up.
[33:15] Also contact Dr. Smith, sorry, Dr. Smith,
[33:19] contact him if needed, but absolutely,
[33:22] your voice matters, your voice is being heard
[33:25] and we are very concerned.
[33:27] And we want, again, a win-win situation.
[33:31] Okay, man, just, I just wanna add real quick.
[33:34] This presentation is online, so I know a lot of people
[33:37] said that they couldn't make the first meeting
[33:39] because it was during work hours and I understand,
[33:41] but by law we do have to have a morning one. So please, if somebody hasn't seen this,
[33:47] tell them to go online and look at it or review this one. And again, you'll have our emails.
[33:54] You know how to find us. You'll know how to call us.
[34:00] But we need to hear. And please, if you have
[34:06] any suggestions on how we can cut, save, wherever, here, there, you know, I'm not the
[34:15] know-all and you know, of everything. So I would love to hear your ideas and maybe, you
[34:21] know, we can make that work and you know, every bit that we save here and there that doesn't
[34:24] really matter, you know, are we buying too much of this or, you know, whatever it is, that
[34:31] saves. It's just like our personal budgets. When you have to look at your personal budget
[34:34] and you say, Oh, well, do I really need this? Maybe I don't. So please share those, you know,
[34:40] those ideas with us. Okay, to that point, we have several several lots of questions regarding
[34:47] the fact that people feel that the district is very top heavy and that are those people getting
[34:55] raises and we're not. That seems to be a big question in the thread. Okay, so that was actually one
[35:05] of the slides in the presentation but we removed that slide from the presentation. So please forgive me
[35:11] if I misquote the amount but it's not going to be a large amount that I misquote. So we looked at
[35:22] because that was a question that was asked. So we looked at that and I think for those positions,
[35:28] it was a very low one-digit number as far as the percentage of the salary-wise. So
[35:35] again, that has been a topic of discussion, but they're not getting any raises.
[35:42] If they haven't got any raises, I'll just say that.
[35:45] Okay. So another question to that point, since the board is considering not approving raises
[35:53] or stepping forces for 2026, will the district consider allowing teachers to be released
[36:00] from their contracts without penalty after the June 1st deadline so that they can pursue better
[36:06] opportunities elsewhere? Yeah. Well, that was a lot given out the reason. Yeah, that's still
[36:13] and discussion don't miss quote it's right and discussion and sure that we can do that don't miss quote
[36:18] now if you want to come out to contract that's up on you to do however we're trying to retain what
[36:23] we have but don't miss quote to say we aren't because that's why we need to gauge your thoughts and
[36:28] look at this budget a little bit more critical to ensure that we can because like I said and like
[36:33] my colleagues have already alluded to I want to give you a step I want to be able to give you a
[36:38] to keep you in this district. And to ensure that you have room for growth,
[36:45] to make sure that you have room that you can move around in this district rather than
[36:48] subjected to the to the classroom. But what you put in is what you get out.
[36:54] So we got to put some accountability on that as well. So I want us to look at that and say
[36:58] don't say that Clayton is not getting what we have gone back to the table.
[37:02] And I know that you all have not had a race since Superintendent Beatsley has been with us.
[37:07] I know that I get that. However, let's go back to the table and let's look at what we have before we make those rational comments to say that Clayton's not giving out that that Cola or that step or that raise.
[37:21] Okay.
[37:22] This is switching over to facilities.
[37:27] two-part question. I know the answer to the first part. Why do we have money to build new buildings if we can't give raises? And I know that's another part of money. It comes out of us.
[37:39] But this question says why are there more buildings getting built, but we're not repairing the buildings that are already here.
[37:48] My building literally leaks whenever it rains, we just had a power outage today.
[37:53] I want to also mention how the cafeteria workers complain that some of their cooking appliances don't work because they're electrical problems within the school.
[38:02] right? Either one, want to take it or you want me to take it? Okay. So, um, our
[38:11] spouse dollars, you're correct him, the answer the first part of it. So, the
[38:16] building fund is out of the spouse dollars and we usually go by, um, what we have
[38:22] dependent upon what spouse it is. There are several schools that are up for
[38:27] renovation and or needed new schools. I think if a building is more than 30,
[38:32] I know Ronik is not on here, but I think 30 years are older.
[38:36] They're trying to repair it if that's, I mean, either build or repair or renovations
[38:42] or whatever they need to do at that time.
[38:46] But from Ronik's presentations that he's done, there's lists of projects that he has that
[38:54] will be ongoing throughout the year.
[38:56] Of course, you just voted in a new splot for an additional amount of years, so there will
[39:03] be other projects that will follow upon that.
[39:05] But my suggestion to you as a board member would be to reach out to that department and
[39:12] let them know which, or you can reach out to us and let us know which building you're talking
[39:17] about or Kim, you can get the information which building you're talking about, what the
[39:22] problem is and we could actually get someone to come over there and look at it and have
[39:27] run its group come over there and look at it and do analysis of what needs to be done. I really
[39:32] don't know what school so I don't want to go too deep into it because that is his, he's the expert
[39:39] in that area but I know that we are trying to look at all the schools. May I add to that?
[39:49] Ms. Joyce, I'd like to add that one of the things that we with this last
[39:56] spot was to have a bond referendum, which will allow us to get to those projects
[40:03] quicker than the pay as you go that we have been doing since before the beginning of
[40:08] time. So hopefully that will be there. But I would ask any of you, if you if you're
[40:14] Sealing is laking. I call your school board member, call Ronic, Joseph, call somebody and let them know. And if you call maintenance, still call your board member or email them and let us know. And then let us know if it hasn't been taken care of in the timely manner that they expected.
[40:35] You know, they can't be everywhere every day, but sometimes it's the week, the squeaky will that, you know, gets greased.
[40:44] Okay. I'm keeping going through this. Again, most of it is everything's going up, but our salaries and why does the district get to prepare for a rainy day when we can't with our salaries afford a savings account?
[41:06] All right, so with that, what I will say, and I don't know if D and Mary, do you want to say something?
[41:16] No, okay. So with that, I would say, I understand. I completely understand. That's why we are working with
[41:28] the superintendent to come back to the table and see what we can do. I cannot stress enough to let
[41:34] you know that we are concerned, we hear you, and we understand everyone has has to live. But
[41:43] everything is going up everywhere, even within the school district. So we have to make sure that
[41:50] we are found too. It's a must that we have a healthy balance and a healthy reserve because for that
[41:58] rainy day. We want to make sure that if it falls apart like COVID that we're able to even pay you
[42:05] for at least three months. So I understand I'm just one of nine. I'm speaking for joy. I
[42:13] completely understand that is why we're doing what we're doing tonight because we do care
[42:18] and we hear you and we want we want to come to a conclusion and a win-win.
[42:25] Okay, so a suggestion here that we all will suggestion something about a program where we can get a grant
[42:33] from CCPS for aspiring teachers who are already working in the system. Maybe get some grant funding to alleviate
[42:44] the fact that some people are having to work two jobs to make intimate. Okay, so what I would say is grant department.
[42:55] I want to go back a little bit. We were talking about the lack of raises. One of the things
[43:02] you also need to keep in mind is that the governor gave increases, I believe it was last year,
[43:11] and it was not to all employees. And we went into, we had to put that in our budget to make sure
[43:18] that all employees got that amount of money.
[43:22] And so unless something I missed, he didn't give any raises
[43:28] this year either.
[43:31] So that's another thing to think about.
[43:33] I know it's not what we want to hear,
[43:34] but it's easier to understand when you have all the information.
[43:38] And that's the whole point of this is so that we can share
[43:41] and it, you know, I love the idea of grants.
[43:44] If we can find the grant writers to make these grants so be it.
[43:48] I, I, again, it is not about not wanting to pay you, I, I would, I would love to pay
[43:54] you so much more than, than what you make. But I, they won't let me print money in the
[44:00] print shop.
[44:02] But please, if you had, you know, when we get off of this, this call, if you
[44:07] have more ideas, send them in, please, you know, this is a, this is a one time hit. This
[44:13] This is, keep, keep coming.
[44:16] This is another suggestion.
[44:18] Could we consider a four day face-to-face work week and one day virtual with building
[44:24] closures and busing, bus is not moving.
[44:27] This may save funds.
[44:31] That's just a, that's a, can someone write that down, Dr. Smith, if he's on or any of his
[44:38] staff?
[44:40] I'm sure Dr. Green has a record. She's on the call.
[44:44] Yeah, good.
[44:47] Let's see.
[44:51] Again with the top heavy and wonder and is the superintendent getting a raise and no one else is the super.
[45:00] So can I, can I address that? Okay, so the superintendent just so everyone knows he's not getting a raise either. There is a budget that's out there. And that line item was a correction to something that should have been in his budget. I mean, in his contract. And in the budget from last year. So it's really just a correction of the accounting.
[45:28] but he's not receiving a raise. It's only what was allotted to him contractually, that fit.
[45:40] Several people have asked are there they still going to receive the attendance bonus this semester
[45:47] that was promised? Yeah, so either one, I don't... I'm not sure about that one. I think that one was
[45:58] already budgeted for and I have not heard anything about taking it back. Perhaps we could
[46:05] get a CCPS info sent out on that. Yes. Because that would be that would clear up things.
[46:17] Again, Paris just wanting to have some increase and really it's across the board just all the
[46:27] positions because everybody's working harder. You know, absolutely. All these people are working harder and let's see,
[46:39] um, they don't want the attend somebody. This person does not want the attendance incentive to be used again because some of my co workers came to work seriously.
[46:48] sleep yield and that's a good situation.
[47:01] Some one here is concerned that the long-term
[47:07] plan doesn't show that much increase in salaries either. So they want to know why should
[47:14] we stay here if we don't really see in the long-term plan that we're going to get anything
[47:20] either. Yeah so everyone has to do what's right for themselves and their
[47:33] family. I would never be me I'm talking as one as a board member I would never
[47:38] be that selfish person to just say just say because we need you we do we
[47:47] really need you and we want you to stay. However, everyone has to be accountable for their
[47:53] own household. I would hope that individuals would stay, but I would also understand.
[48:00] Again, we are trying, we're going back to the table. So, give us, we have it to the 27th
[48:06] to finalize this budget and we're going back to the table and it will be communicated. And
[48:11] if that's something that you can live with, then we hope that you stay and we hope that
[48:16] We, you know, can have a relationship, working relationship with you for years to come because you are valued.
[48:25] This again, we are just in uncertain times. We really are and I, but I get it. I truly get it.
[48:34] Okay, this is a different one. I'm not sure what it's referring to, but it says can the new proposal for the employee services get cut?
[48:43] but I believe that is 400,000 and it is not fully funded.
[48:48] Why can't that be put towards our step increase?
[48:52] I don't know, employee services.
[48:53] Okay, so can we just put a pin in that
[48:56] and have Ramona look at that?
[48:58] Cause I'm not sure what.
[48:59] Okay.
[49:00] Yeah.
[49:01] And that'll be in one of the question answers.
[49:04] Maybe we can.
[49:06] Let me scroll down here.
[49:22] the question was not answered. Can we be released from our contract if if we don't get raises?
[49:32] I can't answer that. I can't answer that. That's why I didn't answer it. I can't answer it. However,
[49:38] we can put that on the question and answer. Can if you see something like that, please just let us
[49:45] reiterate it to us because I don't want people to think that we are not answering it. We just
[49:50] don't know the answer but we will definitely get the answer for you.
[49:57] Classrooms are filter capacity and we have leaders getting paid top dollar to
[50:01] evaluate classes. Has the county considered putting leads back in the
[50:06] classroom to have a better budget? Right, so we have staff that's on the call
[50:14] That's a great idea, so I'm sure they will go back to the table and discuss that if not they if they haven't already thought of it.
[50:25] Right.
[50:28] Something about is there going to be a lockdown browser for teachers purchase in this budget. I'm not sure what that is.
[50:35] As a math teacher, it's heavily needed to get accurate assessment scores and retain student focus, especially when we have 25 plus in the classroom.
[50:47] Yeah.
[50:48] So we will definitely put that on a question and answer Dr. Young.
[50:52] If you could,
[50:55] Dr. Young.
[50:56] The principal to Dr. Young. Yes.
[50:59] Yes.
[50:59] Okay.
[50:59] Okay.
[51:02] Then I don't, okay. The governor approved $2,500 raises for FY25. Did they get that?
[51:14] I'm not sure. They did. Okay.
[51:19] Okay. This question, the fund balance six years ago was as low
[51:24] as 14 million. How many vacancies must the district have to make the board members support
[51:30] support the superintendents use of the fund balance.
[51:37] Okay, say that again, I'm sorry.
[51:39] Okay, so the fund balance six years ago was as low as 14 million.
[51:46] How many vacancies must the district have to make the board members support the superintendents
[51:53] use of the fund balance?
[51:55] Okay, so what it sounds is if, is that they're saying they're leaving because of us not using a fine balance.
[52:07] Again, I'm going to say we're going to the table with the superintendent we're having our three on threes and we'll be discussing what we can do.
[52:19] but as board members, one of our priorities is to be
[52:23] physically responsible for our healthy budget.
[52:28] So we always at a high level have to keep that in mind
[52:33] that we are overseeing this $1.5 billion budget.
[52:38] And we have to, in our minds, even if it's not on paper,
[52:43] we have to forecast five and six years ahead
[52:45] just to make sure that we are able to
[52:48] sustain what we have in place.
[52:51] But again, we're going back to the table.
[52:53] Things will be communicated to the community.
[52:57] I'll reiterate again, we don't want to lose anyone.
[53:03] Okay, so this will be the last question,
[53:06] and the rest of them will be saved and retained,
[53:10] and we'll create that FAQ document.
[53:14] But this last question prior to May 27, could you pull the staff so that they could look at the options that are being presented to you? Could we share those out prior to the May 27 meeting?
[53:31] So if we could go back to, do we have time to go back to that slide?
[53:36] So those options was the second or third slide that I showed, I think, if we can go back.
[53:45] Okay, so these are the options that was presented to us.
[53:54] So we have the fiscal year 2025, which was the $32.2 million that we had to come out of our general fund.
[54:01] option one, we have is just a base where there's no change, no incentive, no
[54:09] anything. Option two was the 3% COLA and that came at a 15.7 million dollars but
[54:17] we were going to be hit by 18 million and then we have the option three which was
[54:24] the thousand dollar incentives with a 6.6 million dollar hit which we were
[54:30] going to be hit in our general fund by 8.9 and then we had the fourth option there which
[54:39] we would be a 9.9 and that was the 12.2 hit to the general fund and then option 5 which was
[54:48] the $2,000 incentive and that would have been a $15.5 million hit to our general fund.
[54:57] Okay, so the rest of these questions and we do have a lot but we will definitely go through them and and curate that document so that that can be shared out and we'll also try to get the answers from the appropriate departments.
[55:20] Okay, so I just want to talk to number one, our staff, not just teachers, but our staff
[55:29] and just let them know that we do value you, we want you to stay.
[55:35] But this is hard work.
[55:36] This is something, as I said, at the 11 o'clock budget meeting, we're not just haphazardist,
[55:42] just doing this.
[55:44] We're thinking about it. It is very much consideration about everyone. The cost of living the
[55:51] price is going up on both sides, even your size. Like Miss Baker said, if we could give you,
[55:57] you don't get paid what you should get paid to do what you do on a daily basis. And if we could,
[56:04] we would. But I just want everyone to know we're just asking you to give us a chance, let us find a
[56:11] situation that it's not going to fit all and I understand that we know this is it's not going
[56:17] to fit all, but if it can fit the majority and it's a win-win we want to do that. So I just say thank
[56:24] you for everything that you do. We appreciate it and I look forward to coming to a resolution with this
[56:31] fiscal year 2026 budget.
[56:39] Mary or Dee? I'm just going to go back to somebody's question about the
[56:44] fund balance being as low as 14 million dollars. That was not a good time. That was not a good time
[56:52] at all. And when I started on this board, our budget was less than a half a billion dollars. And
[57:01] I remember when we went over a half a billion dollars, I was floored. And now I'm looking at a
[57:08] a budget of almost $1.5 billion.
[57:12] So things have changed.
[57:14] And we have a staff that's pushing $8,000.
[57:18] So when we're having to give out that money,
[57:20] trying to do it fairly, you just think of how much money
[57:25] it takes just to give $10 to everyone.
[57:29] And again, they won't let me print money,
[57:34] because this is not what I want for you. I don't want to have to say things are tight, but I look
[57:44] at a federal budget that doesn't pay as hardly anything when it comes to helping our teachers.
[57:51] And most of the money we get from the federal government is through grants to feed our children
[57:55] and things like that. So if you have any insight, I would love to hear it. Please know that this is not
[58:03] easy for us. I'm sure that the superintendent has extra Tylenol in his office for all the emails I
[58:11] have sent. So please know that you, we respect you and we're trying.
[58:23] Dr. Hayden.
[58:25] I was reading questions. I'm sorry. I wanted to ask the question on here, but I missed a curry.
[58:31] And no, we don't want to lose the teachers.
[58:34] And we have projected balance of 147 mil.
[58:38] I wouldn't not want to lose teachers.
[58:41] I want to give you your step as to what you do for that.
[58:44] And as we've stated before, we're going back
[58:46] to the table on that.
[58:48] And also in regards to SES, yes, I'm going to find out.
[58:51] And it has been discussion where that money has been allocated
[58:55] since that as Ms. Telescope had been dissolved
[58:58] as of that position.
[58:59] So we will go back and answer those questions so that can get clarification to be able to better articulate to you all as of those particular also know and again we don't want any teacher staff everybody involved with making sure these children are well educated to lead the district but again we're going to be just as open and transparent and very honest with you about how we're going about the options that you may see is probably saying that's not worth it. That's not going to pertain me to make me stay that's going to not going to make me
[59:29] stay in my contract. All of those questions will be answered. Whether we go toe to toe,
[59:34] 10 toes down, however it is, the questions will be answered in a manner that you all will
[59:38] be able to understand why and what. And so hopefully we will come and they know hopefully we will
[59:44] come to a resolve as to how to meet your needs. But again, as Ms. Baker said, we want to make sure
[59:49] everybody's taken care of and all nine of us want to make sure that you all stay with the feet
[59:54] a reasonable salary, as well as those steps and colors that's involved, so I'm working just as much
[1:00:00] As they are, to ensure that we do, but also to be able to sustain the budget that we have.
[1:00:07] With that, thank you so much for joining us tonight. And we'll have the question and answers out as soon as we get those formulated. Have a good night. Thank you so much, everybody.
[1:00:19] body.