At the March 11 school board working session, I was pleased to see a more detailed presentation by Ms. Erin Robinson, Executive Director of Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator, regarding the current resizing of our Fayette County public school system.

She informed the board, that “affected employees” were notified, and she felt that most if not all certified teachers would find placement in Fayette County.

To be clear, in the recent past several employees were told they were “surplus” and their job in their current school was eliminated. Now, several have already been placed within the system, one being moved to replace my wife who is retiring. At this writing, “less than ten” are still awaiting a spot.

Some have asked if I thought this system downsizing is a ploy to get the public to rescind the 3% property tax homestead exemption recently voted in by we taxpayers. I hope not.

While I have great respect for many of our FCBOE leaders and staff, in this case, any efforts they have taken on behalf of the children of our schools and the taxpayers in general has been cloaked in unnecessary vagueness and lost in an outward lack of empathy and urgency.

While downsizing is never easy, its important that our school system be transparent in its plans and empathetic in its actions. These events are no longer hypothetical, and the public must be clearly informed. We need to know which schools will have less and where will it be less.

Many would like to know of the 70 or so position reductions, how many were at the school level and how many at the central office? Reasonable people would hope that our administration has prioritized the classroom over back-office functions and administrative positions. We do not need to hear the words, but rather see the facts.

It is fair to see what questions were asked and which processes were considered to be automated, streamlined, and possibly eliminated from the central Office that would save personnel costs that could then be spent on school or classroom positions.

For example, in 2023, over 150 people were paid almost $2.2 Million dollars for “miscellaneous activities” according to open.GA.gov. How much of that money will be directed to the classroom in the coming budget?

One question that stands out is why there has been no open discussion to move the school tax milage rate to 20 from 19.25 as it has been in other recent financial crisis situations. While this one action would not solve the problem, its odd we cut staff without making this move.

In a time when we are building tennis courts for all and “auxiliary gyms,” how can we move some of the costs for the ever-growing extracurricular entitlements to the families of those participating and the booster clubs? We parents pay a lot to private organizations for our children’s activities, but maybe we need to pay more for school activities too.

Are there ways to outsource technology services, food services, custodial services, or maintenance for lower costs? End of the day, I would have hoped that the administration looked under every rock to protect the classroom like others have in the past. Instead, I only see a governmental funding algebra formula playing out without the background data to explain the answer.

Even if, the cutting of the positions is a ploy to “wake up” the public and take action to regain the blank check granted by double digit property tax growth, our Georgia Legislature has a raft of property tax bills to limit future property tax growth across Georgia currently under consideration. Any relief would be brief. Limited property tax digest growth seems to be here to stay.

We need an innovative plan to properly fund our schools in the world of rising costs with the tax digest we have. In the past, we have proven able to save our system by working together, I believe we can again.

[Neil Sullivan is a finance/accounting executive and CPA. He has lived in Peachtree City over 20 years with his wife Jennifer, a Fayette County History teacher and son Jackson, a sophomore at Erskine College. He has been active in public school related issues in Fayette County, leading three E-SPLOST initiatives as chairman of Fayette Citizens for Children. He has appeared previously on these pages in letters to the editor.]