Muscogee County School Board member presses administration on proposed teacher raises

During the Muscogee County School Board's five-hour annual retreat Saturday, amid the 127 PowerPoint slides full of information about the system's past, present and future, District 8 representative Frank Myers asked a succinct question:

"So, yes or no, will teachers be getting a proposed raise in this next budget?"

"Yes," replied Kathy Tessin, the Muscogee County School District's human resources chief.

Myers: "OK, and we just don't know how much?"

Tessin: "Correct. What that percentage is for all teachers and what part of that is supplements for people doing specialized assignments is what we'll be working on."

Myers: "When will we be able to know the specific numbers? Is this going to be one of those deals where we get it on the Thursday before we're supposed to vote on it on a Monday? Because I'm tired of that."

District 4 representative Naomi Buckner tried to interject.

"If you don't mind," Myers continued, "I'm asking this lady a question, and I'd like to get an answer from her. You don't have the floor, ma'am. Please, just let me hear from this lady. I've been very patient."

Tessin: "It's so integrated with the total. How can we vote on separate compensation until we know what impact it will have on curriculum purchases, on the fund balance "

"And all of it's determined by what comes from the state," added superintendent David Lewis. "Until the state has their budget, it would be premature to do anything in terms of budgetary process and finalizing any projections."

Myers: "Well, we know this now. I believe we're not going to get any less money than we got last year. So why can't we use last year as a baseline and go from there? But my problem is, again, teacher salaries, that is absolutely a policy decision that should be made by the board.

"The board should not be given this at the last minute at some meeting, when there's not time to really digest it. I'm a board member. I want to have the information in front of me. I want to know what the real choices are. I don't want to know the choices of what some consultant says. The question is: Are these nine board members comfortable with that? Because we're the policymakers. I'm going to keep hammering that until it gets through to somebody. I want to see teacher raises. I want to see significant teacher raises. And I want us to keep the promise to the people."

The "promise" Myers referred to actually wasn't a promise. The possible raises are the payoff from one of Lewis' key arguments he made for renewing the 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales. Columbus voters in March 2015 passed the referendum to collect $192,185,000 for capital projects or until the tax, which returned July 1, expires in five years. Lewis emphasized during the campaign that SPLOST money can't be used for personnel, but he also stressed that having the SPLOST makes the district's financial situation more conducive to giving raises because less operating money would be needed for capital expenses.

Lewis didn't respond to Myers' "promise" assertion during this exchange at the retreat. Instead, the superintendent asked the board's most outspoken critic what percentage he suggests for teacher raises. Myers thanked him for asking and said, "The problem is, we don't have enough information in front of us."

"Nor do we at this point," Lewis countered.

Myers: "But you do. You have a baseline from last year. This idea that, 'Well, we're just working as hard as we can, and all of a sudden we're going to pop this in front of you at a board meeting and everyone is expected to go along with it,' that's got to end."

District 7 representative Shannon Smallman recalled a previous administration's budget being based on projected state revenue in January and February, but those numbers were reduced to such an extent that the district resorted to furlough days.

"We're waiting on the state money," Smallman said. "Until it's in our hand, it can significantly be cut."

The district's fiscal year begins July 1. The FY2017 budget calendar has set public hearings for May 9, May 16 and June 13, followed by final adoption June 20.

This year's budget is $268,746,786. Lewis noted the Georgia Department of Education recommends at least 65 percent of a district's budget to go toward instruction; MCSD is at 71 percent.

The budget projections for FY2017, presented by MCSD chief financial officer Theresa Thornton, include:

Ending FY2016 with $39,156,822 in fund balance. That's equivalent to 52 days of operating expenses for the district. It was as low as 28 days only three fiscal years ago. The Government Finance Officers Association recommends 60 days.

Gov. Nathan Deal's state budget proposal calls for restoring $300 million in austerity reductions. That would translate to decreasing MCSD's reduction by $5.7 million, from $8.7 million to 3 million.

The unofficial FY2017 earnings for the district from the state's Quality Basic Education funding formula amounts to an increase of $1,657,837 compared to the FY2016 initial amount.

The local property tax digest is expected to grow by 1.5 percent, due to economic development, but the administration's proposed budget parameters keep the millage rate at 23.37 mills, which would be the 20th straight your without an increase.

Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Muscogee County School Board member presses administration on proposed teacher raises ."