Dekalb School Board Approves Job Cuts

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By Martha Dalton

The DeKalb County school board has voted to cut more than 100 jobs at the school level. The decision is part of the school district’s new zero-based budgeting plan. This is the first year the Dekalb schools will implement zero-based budgeting. New Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson introduced the plan to the district. Dekalb Schools’ spokesperson Walter Woods says the school system used student enrollment to determine how many jobs were needed.

“Based on our student allotment, we had about 133 positions over across the school district,” Woods explains, “So, these are graduation coaches and other auxiliary positions in the schools that we recommended to the board be eliminated, and the board did vote, in fact, to move forward with that.”

The move will save the district 9.2 million dollars. Woods says the employees who lose their jobs will have the first shot at other job openings in the district. He says the school system expects to have about 250 positions to fill. A separate analysis will determine whether administrative jobs need to be cut.