CONTRACTS ISSUEDSchool system officials issued contracts last week to most certified personnel. Those employees have until May 25 to return contracts.Dalton2010-11 contracts issued to certified staff: 539Whitfield2010-11 contracts issued to certified staff: 972Source: Dalton public and Whitfield County school systems
Officials said they won’t know the extent of job cuts for Dalton and Whitfield County school systems until contracts issued to certified employees are returned next week.
Dalton issued 539 contracts to certified personnel on Friday, spokeswoman Deana Farmer said. Records show Dalton had 581 certified employees on staff in the 2009-10 school year.
Whitfield issued 913 contracts for certified nonadministrative positions and 59 for certified administrative posts last week, spokesman Eric Beavers said. The county system lists 995 certified employees for the 2009-10 school year, records show.
The number of resignations and retirements won’t be known until May 25, the deadline for certified employees to return their contracts, the spokespersons said.
Officials said they hoped retirements and resignations would account for about half the positions cut, reducing the impact on employees who did not plan to stop working. Resignations and retirements relieved some of the pressure in other systems in the region, officials said.
Meanwhile, school systems are waiting for updated funding figures from the state as they work toward their own final budgets due by July, they said.
“We are still working from preliminary numbers on our state funding for next year,” Ms. Farmer said Monday.
Whitfield last week cut 113 positions to help offset a $13.4 million shortfall in state and local revenue for 2010-11, and Dalton’s cut of 52 positions countered a $5 million funding shortage estimate next year and a projected $2 million shortfall in 2012, officials said.
Along with the job cuts, Whitfield cut the work schedule by 10 to 12 days for 10-, 11- and 12-month employees, respectively, and four days for employees on the system’s 180-day schedule, officials said. Dalton also cut its work schedule by 10 days for most employees, and both systems cut five days from the student calendar.
Those moves mirror similar modifications made in most North Georgia school systems and others across the state, records show.
Ms. Farmer said the city’s school board will take action on a preliminary 2011 budget on May 28 and vote on the final version June 14. Dalton’s current year budget is about $59 million.
Whitfield projects its 2011 revenue budget at $90.8 million, but it must be approved by the board next month before it is finalized, Mr. Beavers said. Whitfield’s current year budget is about $107.9 million. The county system’s next scheduled board meeting is June 7.
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