Board of Education approves 2019-2020 budget

The Richmond County Board of Education on Tuesday approved the final budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

The budget includes a $3,000 annual salary increase for certified personnel, and $3,000 annually for licensed practical nurses. A grant is also funding a 2% increase for school nutrition that is being doubled by the school system to 4%, and all other staff will receive a 2% increase.

“Every employee of the school system will see an increase in this budget,” said board president Jimmy Atkins.

The state is also funding a 2% increase for bus drivers, but one driver says that’s not enough. Yolanda Brown spoke at the meeting and requested that the board consider giving drivers the same raise teachers are receiving. She said there is a significant shortage in drivers, and higher pay could encourage more people to apply.

“It will not put us in the same bracket as (teachers) but it sure would help us a lot,” Brown said of the pay raise for teachers. “We are there to make a living and we deserve to enjoy the living that we’re making.”

After her comments, board member Venus Cain fired back and said the bus drivers have received about a 10% raise over the past six years.

“I think it’s unfair and I’m personally tired every month of our bus drivers coming in and complaining as if they are the only ones that deserve a raise,” Cain said. “It needs to stop because you don’t just do this job by yourself, everybody in this system does and everybody deserves a raise.”

Total revenues and expenditures for the district this year are $273,528,895. In terms of expenditures, 61% are spent on salaries and 26% on benefits, with another 13% on operating costs and temp services. Revenues largely come from the state at 64% and local taxes at 35%.

Following the review of the budget, a parent asked the board to consider parent interests when deciding issues. Specifically referring to the 20 schools that will have new bell times this year in order to save money on transportation and consolidate bus routes, the parent said the board did not adequately communicate the change.

While several schools advertise the changes on their websites, the changes are not yet advertised on the district’s main webpage.

The new bell times were decided and voted on at a March 22 board meeting. According to the school system, the changes will save about $300,000 dollars by having students in advanced placement and international baccalaureate course ride existing magnet shuttles. The changes do not require any new drivers.

The bell schedule changes were prompted by the closure of four schools, the opening of two schools and 27 neighborhood planning unit changes that will affect where about 2,500 students attend school.

New schools include Wheeless Road and Richmond Hill K-8, which will open this year. The Alternative Center at Lamar, Rollins, Windsor Spring and Southside elementary schools will all close. Morgan Road Middle School will be repurposed as an innovation academy.

For those schools that are being closed or removed, historicl artifacts such as documents, photographs and plaques will be relocated. For Southside and Rollins, items will be located at Richmond Hill K-8. Materials at Morgan Road Middle School will remain there.

The board also approved resolutions to phase out buildings at the Academy of Richmond County and George P. Butler Comprehensive High School to make way for new additions.

At the Academy of Richmond County, building 5012, which contains Career, Technical and Agricultural Education classrooms will be demolished. The total estimated cost for renovation for the 66-year-old building will be $2,049,825. The renovations will bring the CTAE classrooms up to code and would include a new data infrastructure system.

The building containing CTAE classrooms at Butler High School will also be demolished. According to the school system, the classrooms currently do not meet state guidelines for the CTAE programs and require total renovation. The cost is estimated at $4,068,775.

The planning and zoning committee also discussed a new subdivision called Granite Hill that will be located between Gordon Highway and Jimmie Dyess Parkway. That subdivision will include about 45 homes, and will affect Sue Reynolds Elementary School, Langford Middle School and the Academy of Richmond County.

In new business, a petition with 100 signatures was presented to the board to name the Hephzibah High School football stadium in honor of John McCleod, who played on the school's second football team.

The board also approved a motion to remove seven individuals from the Richmond County Board Advisory Committee for not completing school council training.

After a public vote, the board also approved the Richmond County School System World Language Students trip to France in Spain in the summer of 2020. There are still slots available for the trip, which has 21 students currently signed up.

New bell times are listed for the following schools:

• A Dorothy Hains Elementary School: 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet School: 8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
• Academy of Richmond County: 8:15 a.m. to 3: 15 p.m.
• Blythe Elementary School: 8:15 a.m. to 3: 15 p.m.
• Copeland Elementary School: 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• C.T. Walker Magnet School: 8:15 a.m. to 3: 15 p.m.
• Deer Chase Elementary School: 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Diamond Lakes Elementary School: 8:15 a.m. to 3: 15 p.m.
• Freedom Park School: 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Hephzibah Elementary School: 8:15 a.m. to 3: 15 p.m.
• Hephzibah Middle School: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Innovation Academy: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School: 8:15 a.m. to 3: 15 p.m.
• Lake Forest Hills Elementary School: 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Lucy Craft Laney High School: 8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
• Monte Sano Elementary School: 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Performance Learning Center: 8:15 a.m. to 3: 15 p.m.
• Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School: 8:15 a.m. to 3: 15 p.m.
• Richmond Hill K-8: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Wheeless Road Elementary School: 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Willis Foreman Elementary School: 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• W.S. Hornsby K-3: 8:15 a.m. to 3: 15 p.m.