The Greene County Board of Education adopted the school system’s fiscal year 2027 budget and discussed several policy matters during its June 18 meeting.
The board held a public hearing on the FY27 budget shortly before Thursday evening’s meeting, following an earlier hearing on June 11. Board members unanimously approved the budget, but will adopt the millage rate during their July meeting.
To begin the budget discussion, Greene County School System Chief Financial Officer Connie Wilkes presented a summary of the district’s financial reports from the previous month. She said the school system is expected to finish the fiscal year in a stronger financial position than originally projected because expenditures are coming in well below the anticipated deficit.
“We’ve collected 95.41% of our budgetary revenues, which is slightly less than last year at 96.46%,” Wilkes said. “We have spent 85.13% of our budget expenses, which is roughly 5% higher than the prior year.”
Wilkes said those figures were largely influenced by Gov. Brian Kemp’s mandated retention bonuses, along with the district’s “decision to fund all other employees not funded by the state.”
She also reported that the school system’s revenues currently exceed expenditures by approximately $3.3 million and that its ending fund balance stands at $20 million. In April, the district’s ending fund balance was approximately $22.7 million.
“Overall, based on our revenues, I’m expecting our expenditures to be in a deficit of $106,000, but we had planned that it was going to be a $962,000 deficit,” Wilkes said. “We’re going to be coming in for the good of $856,000 and should end the year better than we had originally thought.”
Following the budget discussion, the board approved a revised student code of conduct that was first presented in May and tabled to allow for public comment and additional review. The district received 16 public responses through an online survey.
With the board’s approval, the revised code of conduct establishes a more structured disciplinary system focused on both intervention and accountability.
“One respondent expressed appreciation for the work being done by our schools and staff, while several others shared feedback related to broader topics such as communication, school culture, student support, transportation, and dress code implementation,” said Emily McClure, GCSS director of communications. “So, we received all of the feedback and reviewed each submission. As a result of this review process, several revisions were made to the proposed document.”
Greene County School System Superintendent Dr. Aaryn Schmuhl said the revised policy is intended to reduce disciplinary issues while ensuring every student has access to an education.
“All students have a right to an education. They don’t have the right to interrupt the education of the other students that are in the building with them,” Schmuhl said. “So we would continue to provide them an education, but not in the same setting, in the same way, if they continue to have disciplinary consequences.
“It’s not just about punishment; it’s also about helping kids understand how to make better choices.”
In other Greene BOE news:
- The Board of Education approved up to $495,000 in technology purchases for the upcoming school year. The funding includes a maximum of $270,000 for new student Chromebooks, $150,000 for new teacher laptops, and $75,000 for upgrades to science lab equipment.