Funding major concern for school officials
Local board members meet with legislators to discuss issues facing education in the coming year.
Funding for schools is a concern local board of education members expressed as they held a joint meeting with local legislators Thursday morning.
Members of the Rome City and Floyd County boards met with Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, and Rep. Eddie Lumsden, R-Armuchee, at Floyd County Schools’ boardroom. Board members talked on issues they hoped the lawmakers would keep in mind during the upcoming legislative session starting Jan. 9.
Lou Byars, Rome’s interim superintendent, brought up the issue of the funding formula for schools. Last year, Gov. Nathan Deal’s Education Reform Commission proposed a change in the funding formula. While some systems would have received more money under the new formula, Floyd County and Rome City would be receiving less.
“The proposed formula would change the amount received for things such as students who are English Language Learners,” Byars said. “Districts like ours have a high population of ELL students and it has increased by 35 percent in the last few years. We have to teach those students and we need funding to do it.”
Hufstetler said issues with the proposed formula have been shared with many legislators across the state.
“There are a lot of people looking at this and, trust me, it will be looked at closely,” he said.
Rome City board member Elaina Beeman said she hopes legislators will look at the possibility of funding more of the transportation costs school systems deal with.
“A lot of our children rely on buses to get to school,” she said. “I see now that many children are left at school waiting on buses to return to make a second run, simply because we do not have the funding for transportation.”
Chip Hood, chairman of the Floyd County Board of Education, asked the legislators what was next in the process since the Opportunity School District amendment was defeated during the Nov. 8 election.
Deal wanted to create Opportunity School Districts, where schools scoring less than 60 percent on the College and Career Ready Performance Index for three consecutive years would be placed on a list and be taken over by the state. The measure was defeated by a wide margin. Many school districts and educator organizations came out against the idea because of the loss of local control.
“I would just like to know what is next in the process,” Hood said. “Obviously, just because the amendment was defeated, the problem didn’t go away.”
Lumsden said that no local schools were shown as failing schools, but some schools were in danger.
“I know there are efforts to address the problem of failing schools,” he said. “Right now, there are methods going through the state school board. The problems are more than just what is happening in the school, there are family problems and society problems.”
Hufstetler said he hopes to see more school systems start programs such as college and career academies.
“I think the idea of education not being a one-size-fits-all is good,” he said. “Many students may not feel college is appropriate for them, but they still need to have the education and the training to find a good job.”
Floyd County Superintendent John Jackson emphasized the need to work to retain strong teachers.
“Sometimes, we lose sight of the need of welltrained, qualified teachers,” he said. “We talk about challenges and, we must keep in mind, we need things in place to attract and keep strong teachers.”