The DeKalb County Commission’s offer to the DeKalb School Board for building a new elementary school was on the minds of school board members during a workshop meeting, before the board’s regular monthly meeting, last Thursday. The County Commission has requested $2 million from the school board’s fund balance in order to secure financing for the proposed new school, which would replace the aging Smithville Elementary School.

In previous meetings with county commissioners, the county’s fiscal agent Steve Bates stated that a $40 million school project could be funded without the need for raising property taxes or a possible a wheel tax, by using local option sales tax funds and interest income on bonds. To make it work, the school board would have to make a one-time contribution of $2 million dollars from its $9.9 million fund balance.

In addition, the county would also need the cities and towns, and school board, to extend the existing sales tax agreements, which expire July 16, 2037. Under those agreements, the cities turn over to the county a greater percentage of their local option sales tax collections than they would otherwise be required to do. The Local Purpose Tax Fund helps fund school operation and debt.

But the school board seemed divided on using its reserve funds for a school, at a time when certain federal assistance funds are falling away. Director of Schools Patrick Cripps said he had concerns of taking $2 million from the school system’s fund balance at a time when the school district has other needs.

Director Cripps explained that over the years the board increased its fund balance through programs like the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), which came about through the American Rescue Plan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those funds are now being discontinued, leaving school needs and raises to be funded locally.

“Those ESSER dollars have given us some extra programs we have been able to do extra tutoring and extra professional development for our teachers, but now that this ESSER money is rolling off. These are projects we will have to start funding out of our budget with local and state dollars,” said Director Cripps.

According to Cripps, the local school system also has to compete with other area systems for quality teachers, and has to keep pace with the pay scale. He said that the $9.9 million fund balance was once more than $12 million, but the school board has spent money in recent years for local teacher and support staff pay raises as well as capital outlay projects. Cripps said if the school board grants another local pay raise in 2024-25 to staff, it would draw down the fund balance even more.

School Board members Danny Parkerson and Jim Beshearse also seemed skeptical about the county’s offer during the workshop, but School Board Chairman Shaun Tubbs said he thinks it might be a viable option if the county agrees to the school that the school board has proposed.

“I have been part of this school board for 10 years now, and we have had three different county commissions that we have worked with and put in separate proposals as to what was needed and those proposals have been shot down almost every time,” said Tubbs.

“In this case, I would be willing to take $2 million out of the reserves to put forth toward building a school, if we were able to build the school that the school board is wanting to build. I don’t want to put the $2 million toward that and then have the county commission go back and cut it down to something that wouldn’t even be functional for the school system,” Tubbs said.

Tubbs also expressed during the workshop the increasing cost of the proposed school since it was first proposed. Tubbs explained that construction cost have nearly tripled from the first estimates, and he wonders what the cost will be if the county waits even longer to build the school.

In October 2022, architects estimated the cost to build the new school at $46,199,875. If approved, the new school would be built on property purchased by the board of education next to Northside Elementary School.

During the regular school board meeting, members voted to remove the item from the agenda due to two board members, Jason Miller and Eric Ervin, not being present at the meeting.

“I think with an issue of this magnitude, all of our board members need to be present,” said Chairman Tubbs.

The next regular meeting is March 14.