Budget Community Meetings Scheduled for May 15, 17, 22, 24

Atlanta Public Schools will host FY 2013 Budget Community Meetings on the following dates:

May 15 Burgess Peterson Elementary School

May 17 Garden Hills Elementary School

May 22 Slater Elementary School

May 24 Peyton Forest Elementary School

All meetings will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. All meetings are open to the public. Representatives from the division of Finance will be present to answer questions.

The district’s proposed 2012-13 budget is $564.8 million, compared to the current year’s adjusted $605.2 million budget. The administration is currently enacting measures to close a projected $47 million gap by reducing up to 475 employee positions and other actions. The position reductions are expected to be realized through redistricting school closures, division and department reorganizations, employee separations associated with the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) state investigation results and normal attrition.

Among other cost saving measures, the district is proposing outsourcing more custodial work; enacting a 10 percent cut for all major divisions and departments, except Curriculum & Instruction; reducing transportation special trips; reducing student administrative transfers; and selectively increasing class sizes while remaining within the limits set by the state.

The Atlanta Board of Education approved the proposed tentative budget for the next school year at the May 14 monthly meeting. The board is scheduled to consider a final 2012-13 district budget at the June 4 meeting.