DeKalb County School District

The current budget has been approved by the Board of Education [ http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/board-of-education ].

A detailed version of this approved budget is available for public review online at http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/budget.

The total budget for the General Operations of the District for FY2012 is $774.60 million. It represents a decrease of 0.01% over the current FY2011 budget for General Operations. The FY2011 budget planned for significant reductions in state revenue from the QBE funding formula and significant declines in the local property tax digest from which property taxes are derived. Fortunately, the funds the District expected to lose in additional austerity reductions during the year were not lost. Additionally, while the District planned for a 7% decline in the local property tax digest for FY2011, the actual decline was 3.5%. The result is that the District received substantially more revenue than originally planned in FY2011. The additional revenue will add approximately $40 million to the General Operations Fund Balance at the end of FY2011. It is the additional Fund Balance, not additional revenue that will allow the District to maintain the General Fund expenditures for the FY2012. With an anticipated decline in the local property tax digest of 14.2%, this additional Fund Balance has prevented the District from having to make further reductions to the FY2012 budget. The expenditures for other individual fund types included in the district-wide consolidated budget amount to $456.63 million. These amounts are summarized as follows:

All of the "Other Funds" are funded by revenue sources other than property taxes and state QBE earnings, which are used solely for General Operations. Among these "Other Funds" is the Capital Outlay fund. During FY2012, Capital Outlay expenditures, including those for SPLOST III, are projected to be $197.00 million. Capital Outlay expenditures include the principal and interest payments due on the $300 million bond obtained in conjunction with SPLOST III. The funds for the payment will be transferred and paid from the Debt Service fund. The Debt Service fund payment of $91.63 million is the actual payment of the principal and interest due on the bonds during the FY2012. A principal payment of $85 million and interest payments of $6.63 million are due in FY2012.

The Special Revenue fund consists primarily of budgeted state and federal grant expenditures, including Special Education and Title I funds. Special Revenue expenditures are planned to be $96.19 million for FY2012. The decrease in Special Revenue funds is due to the expiration of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Funding.

The Enterprise fund expenditures are budgeted for $50.73 million for FY2012. The Enterprise fund is comprised of Athletics and School Nutrition operations. School meal prices will increase in FY2012 due to the rising cost of food. This will be the first increase in two years.

The trust & Agency fund accounts for assets held by the district in a trustee capacity and has $21.08 million budgeted for FY2012.

In FY2012, $27 million in additions will be added to the original FY2011 budget. These additions come from the partial restoration of work calendar days to the General Operations budget in the form of salaries and benefits and other improvements. Specifically, the budget restores prior year work calendar reduction days with the exception of four work days for 10-month and 11-month employees and seven work days for 12-month employees. As part of the $27 million, the budget includes $7 million in improvements for:

• Funding the pre-kindergarten program for the full school year and absorbing the state funding reduction for pre-kindergarten classes.
• Hiring the school crossing guards being eliminated by the DeKalb County Government.
• Funding the cost of Advanced Placement exams and absorbing the state funding reduction for the exams.
• Purchasing the current rotation of band uniforms.
• Purchasing band and orchestra equipment.
• Hosting the AdvancED district-wide accreditation team.
• Funding the cost of employee fingerprinting.
• Procuring additional necessary parts and supplies for the bus transportation fleet.
• Increasing the budget to match actual legal expenditures.

A continued decline in state revenue, weakened homes sales, diminished home values, increased foreclosures, and persistent unemployment have all served as major factors for consideration in the development of the FY2012 budget. The approved FY2011-2012 budget has been developed to maintain the conservative nature of the District and is still approximately $2.8 million below the budget adopted for the 2005-2006 fiscal year.

The FY2012 budget was developed to meet the priorities, mission, and the goals of the Superintendent and Board of Education in the best way possible. Ensuring quality personnel in all positions is one of the Superintendent and Board of Education's goals. The business of DeKalb County School District is to ensure that each learner reaches his/her full potential, and becomes a productive citizen in society. As evidenced by the improvement requests, the focus on students continues in FY2012.

The Superintendent's approved FY2012 General Operations budget is a balanced budget that does not require a millage rate increase. In fact, FY2012 will be the ninth consecutive year the District has not increased the millage rate. The last increase was in the FY2003. The budget assumes a property tax digest decline of an additional 14.2% which is a sign of the continually challenged local economy.

This budget has been thoughtfully developed and includes input from a broad spectrum of stakeholders including the Board of Education, community members, teachers, and staff.