CUMMING, Ga. â A silver lining in the COVID-19 disruption is an increase in local tax revenues flowing into the Forsyth County School System as it deals with an increasing number of students and an ambitious construction program.
âWe re going to end up this current year better off than we thought,â said Larry Hammel, chief financial officer for the district. âAnd we re planning for even a bigger increase in local revenue come next year.â
The fiscal year 2022 budget which began July 1 is right at $520.1 million, up 5 percent from last year. Revenues are also up nearly 8 percent from FY21.
Local tax revenue makes up about 52 percent of the budget. For FY22 local revenues rose more than $20 million from last year.
CUMMING, Ga. â The Forsyth County School system is using its third round of federal stimulus money to provide a bonus to employees, support the summer school program and upgrade air quality systems at two elementary schools.
âWe [expect to receive] about $13 million,â said Larry Hammel, chief financial officer for the district. âThat s nothing like the $242 million Gwinnett County is going to get, but it is the money we re going to get.â
In total, Forsyth County Schools has received $20.5 million through three rounds of education stimulus funding since last summer.
During a meeting of the Forsyth County School board earlier this month, Hammel said $7 million of the expected $13 million will be used to provide a $1,000 bonus for employees. The bonus will supplement the $1,000 stipend already allocated by the state for school staff for next year.
Forsyth County Schools staff to receive $2,000 retention bonuses District plans to use remaining coronavirus relief funds on summer program for K-12 students
Forsyth County Schools plans to use a percentage of its allocated federal coronavirus relief funds to give staff members an added $1,000 bonus on top of state retention bonuses next month.
When President Joe Biden passed the American Rescue Plan Act last month, the state of Georgia received close to $4.5 billion in coronavirus relief funding with $3.8 billion going toward the state’s school systems.
The funds are allocated to different school districts based on the percentage of students receiving Title I services linked to lower family income. Forsyth County Schools plans to receive $13 million through the latest relief funding.
CUMMING, Ga. â Officials with Forsyth County Schools are questioning a formula for federal stimulus funds they say is lopsided and unfairly penalizes the district based on the makeup of its student population.
Georgiaâs public schools have received nearly $6 billion in federal stimulus funds in the past year aimed at helping K-12 schools respond and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The school-based funding has been included in three separate stimulus bills approved by Congress over the past year.
The first two rounds under then-President Donald Trump were referred to as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act; the second under President Joe Biden were included in the recently-approved American Rescue Plan.