Rome City Schools bracing for state budget cuts

May 12, 2020–6:19 a.m.

STAFF REPORTS

The Rome Board of Education is expected to discuss the budget when they meet later today.

A spending resolution is on the agenda for the meeting which begins at 5:45 p.m.

Superintendent Louis Byars said the spending resolution is needed because the state has not come out with the final numbers for school system allotments for the fiscal year 2021 and the Rome City School System’s budget year begins July 1.

“Since the state legislature will not be meeting until June, we will not have those numbers,” Byars said.  “A spending resolution will allow us to continue to pay bills into July, even without a formal FY-21 budget.  We just continue along with the same budget guidelines we have now until we can approve an official budget.”

The governor has called for every agency to cut their budgets by 14%, including education.

For the Rome City School System, 14% equals about 5 and a half million dollars.

Tax revenue for the State of Georgia was down by over a billion dollars last month due to the Coronavirus shutdown.

Today’s Rome City School Board meeting will be held virtually via the Zoom app.

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