Bibb school board acknowledges $5.5 million budget hole

The Bibb County Board of Education amended its budget Thursday evening, noting the recently discovered $5.5 million hole in the budget but choosing not to go forward with about $1.2 million in unexplained cuts.

A December memo from Bibb Schools Superintendent Dan Sims obtained by The Melody last week noted the $5.5 million gap in the budget and next steps to adjust it, which were reiterated during the board’s Jan. 15 meeting.

A motion to amend the budget passed by a vote of 4-3, with board members Daryl Morton, Sundra Woodford and Henry Ficklin voting against the motion.

With the removal of the roughly $1.2 million cut, the net change to the budget amounts to a $60,000 decrease. 

Aside from the $5.5 million in additional expenses, the amended budget included the $3.8 million property tax increase, county funds from school zone speeding cameras and a transfer to the general fund for the Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support.

The budget amendment passed after board members decided to not cut $1.275 million in “identified district expenses,” according to budget documents.

District officials did not specify which programs would be impacted by the proposed cuts, making board members apprehensive about including them in the budget. 

An itemized list identifying the cuts would be provided later next week, the district said. The district will present another amendment with those cuts in February. 

“I do not need the public running again thinking we are pulling something away from our beloved students,” Sims said, referring to the district’s decision to deprioritize summer school. “It’s important that we have the appropriate time to make sure that whatever we give is clarity.” 

Morton told Sims the board was pushing the matter of the $1.275 million to make the most informed decision possible and remain accountable.

“It is incredibly important that the public trust the information that we’re going to be presenting when we make those budget decisions,” he said.

Board member James Freeman made the motion to drop the $1.275 million in unidentified expenses from the amendment. He said the district owned up to its mistakes and he’s “comfortable” with the explanations given.

“I think we needed to have a budget that reflected reality,” he told The Melody. “We had some money come in that we knew needed to be reflected in our budget.”

The budget amendment also included two grants from the Georgia Department of Education for mental health and students in poverty which were not noted in Sims’ memo. The funds will have to be spent and are not to be used to fill the general budget, Bush said.

A statement from the Georgia Department of Education shared by the school district noted it is “standard operating procedure” for a budget to be reevaluated throughout the course of the school year.

The board held a work session to go over the memo prior to its usual monthly meeting. CFO Eric Bush was questioned by board members about the nature of the errors and safeguards to prevent such errors from happening again.

While Bush owned up to the mistakes made, Ficklin pressed the district for information and transparency.

“I know that no one is perfect, but this is a lot of mistakes for people to be making who get paid every day to look at our budgets,” he said.