Barrow County School System assistant superintendent Ken Cato gave the board of education updated numbers on the projections for both the end of the current fiscal year in June and also new projections for the BCSS FY2012 budget.
With some new state data in hand, Cato projects the system will actually end the current fiscal year in the black by around $190,000. That would leave the system with a $10.8 million fund balance to start into FY2012.
But Cato’s projections for next year anticipate a decline in revenue of nearly $4 million, most of which will be due to a projected eight percent decline in the county’s tax digest.
In addition, the system now projects a $3.5 million increase in expenses for a total shortfall in FY2012 of $7.5 million.
Left unchanged, that would mean the system would have to use most of its reserves next year to balance the budget and that would leave only about two weeks of cash on hand for the system to use.
I do agree with you that academics are more important than athletics. However, athletics are self supported since it is illegal for any school system in the state to use tax payer funds to pay for football, baseball etc. Also, some students have a talent, if they cold not use that talent in school, no scholarships and that would mean no college for most. High school athletics keeps most kids out of trouble by offering them something to focus on, especially in an area like Barrow, where your choices are school, work, meth and teen pregnancy then living off of taxpayers
It is a messed up system, but that is the way it is.
You are fooling yourself if you believe that athletic and other non-academic programs are not tax payer subsidized. As for the bogus argument that "some students have a talent, if they could not use that talent in school, no scholarships and that would mean no college for most", well college should be based around academics as well. They are many who advocate eliminating athletic based scholarships as well.