Clarke County Board of Education approves 2023 budget, millage rate over some objections

The Clarke County Board of Education has approved its final budget and millage rate for the school district after some dispute among board members.

At a Thursday meeting, members voted 6-2 for a $189 million budget for 2023, and 7-1 for a millage rate of 18.8 mills, down from the previous 20 mills.

The budget discussion was spurred by Linda Davis, who spoke out against passing the budget due to a lack of involvement by the board on a contract involving the district remaining a charter school district.

Davis said the board was not involved in the approval process for the charter school application.

“We should definitely know what's inside that charter application,” she said.

Read more: Clarke County Board of Education approves tentative $189 million budget for 2023

Also: After months of talks about saving Athens' West Broad School, its future remains unclear

Davis additionally had concerns about a new community schools model and how the board has not approved a direction for the model to take. That model was defined in a past work session as a strategy for reform that focuses on relationships between educators and community organizations.

During the budget meeting, Davis questioned what the model means exactly as well as its costs, saying she thinks the board should have more say in the process.

“For those two reasons, I feel strongly that the general budget should not be approved until the board has taken action to set direction for the district and the future of education for our kids in Clarke County,” she said.

Several board members voiced confusion about Davis’ reasonings, but despite her objections, the budget passed, with Davis and Kirrena Gallagher voting against it.

The budget remained largely the same as the tentative spending plan passed in May, with most schools seeing budget increases, except for Barrow Elementary, Fowler Drive Elementary and Classic City High.

The school district estimates that nearly 85% of its budget will go to salaries and benefits.

In a separate vote, the board signed off on a millage rate of 18.8 mills, down from 20 mills.

Despite the decrease, rising property values mean that more property taxes would be collected by the district, and even at an 18.8 millage rate, the district would see a $10 million increase in taxes collected over last year.

But the initial vote failed, with Gallagher, LaKeisha Gantt, Nicole Hull and Mumbi Anderson voting against the lower rate.

Gantt, the board's president, said she would rather see a higher rate to bring in more money for employee pay.

“I really want to be sure that we are not putting ourselves in a place where we don't have the money that we need to have to get people up to $15 an hour,” she said.

Anderson said she wanted an even lower millage rate to help taxpayers.

In the end, board members took another vote, approving the 18.8 rate.

“Let's just go ahead and move on,” said Anderson.

Gantt, Hull and Anderson switched their votes, but Gallagher still voted against it.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Clarke County Board of Education passes final budget and millage rate