5 takeaways from Atlanta Public Schools’ initial budget plan

Higher salaries

APS plans to invest $58.9 million in teacher salary increases, retention and recruiting stipends, and cost-of-living adjustments for non-teachers. On average, officials say, teachers would receive an 11 percent pay raise and nonteachers 3 to 5 percent. The one-time bonuses for recruitment and retention would cost the school system $8.2 million and would include incentives for teachers at schools with the greatest need and early hiring stipends, officials said. For example, a teacher returning to teach in a high-poverty school could receive a $3,000 incentive, the APS said. The district also has a salary calculator that teachers and interested applicants can use to determine their salary.

Homemade food

APS plans to bring its school meals in-house after spending several years under contract with catering companies. Students said they hope the district’s new superintendent will pay attention to meal planning and offer more options. Bracken said the change would cost the district $15.4 million and the hope is to get more students to buy meals at school.

Removal of the central office

APS has seen declining enrollment at traditional schools over the past decade, prompting officials to review centralized services, Bracken said. The district’s traditional schools serve 7,700 fewer students than a decade ago. Bracken said the budget plan eliminates nearly five dozen vacant positions. She also said some departments had been consolidated or eliminated. The reductions resulted in a central office cost reduction of about 3 percent, Bracken said. In an email to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the district said the cuts were part of a strategy, outlined by the school board, to move spending closer to classrooms.

Rising health care costs

Like most public school districts in Georgia, APS will see an increase in the number of health benefit costs for employees next year. Bracken said the district will pay an additional $4,620 per classified employee in the coming year, a 32 percent increase.

Long-term substitutes

Schools have struggled to find replacement teachers since the COVID-19 pandemic. This gap, combined with teacher shortages in some areas, has increased the need for long-term replacements. APS would spend $1.4 million to continue using substitutes long-term in school settings, Bracken said.

State law requires the board to hold at least two public hearings on the budget. The first took place Monday evening. The second will take place on June 3, followed by a final vote.