Richmond County School System (RCSS) leadership and the Board of Education laid out its priorities for local elected officials during the annual pre-legislative session.
The district presented members of the local delegation, including Representatives Karlton Howard (D-District 129), Lynn Gladney (D-District 130) and Brian Prince (D-District 132, Chairman of local delegation) and Senator Harold Jones, their list of five priorities for the 2024 legislative session.
The district is particularly concerned with the possible expansion of publicly funded, private school options. The district opposes the creation of any new program or expansion of an existing program that uses public funding sources to distribute vouchers to pay for private school tuition.
“The money needs to stay within the county,” said school board president, Charlie B. Walker, Jr. “Unless there’s something that we’re not doing that somebody else can do better, then I think the funding and everything that we get from Atlanta, needs to stay within the system that’s already in place.”
The district’s concern focuses on SB233 (https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/64762), ‘The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act’ which creates scholarship accounts of $6,500 per school year for each participating student “to provide for qualified education expenses” at a participating school defined as “a private school that has notified the commission (Georgia Student Finance Commission) of its intention to participate in the program.”
Although first introduced during the 2023 legislative session, it failed to pass.
Rep. Gladney warned the district that SB233 will be re-introduced in the 2024 session, according to discussions she has had with Republican House members.
“Part of that discussion was that it may be tailored around some different ideas. Some of those ideas may include charter schools and some school programs that the state is now offering,” she advised. “Richmond County is not a part of that conversation at that point. Some of those completion, special school projects, would be very beneficial to help us be in a better competitive position, where we are not necessarily in the target zone, if that bill passes.”
Among the other items on the priority list is school safety. The district is asking for ongoing funding through an annual grant from the state to help cover some of the expenses that have grown in recent years.
“Years ago, when they built this formula, I’m not sure school safety was quite as high priority as it is nowadays,” explained Bobby Smith, the district’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). “Unfortunately, it is very, very, very important for that to be addressed with our own police, certified police officers within our school system, to assist with school safety.
Smith said there is a need for funding to pay for additional security cameras and training for district officers and personnel to deal with violence and school threats. He said there is a new need: Training for mental health awareness that the school officers assist with and need specific training.
The district would also like additional state funds for paraprofessionals in the first and second grades. The district went on record as supporting Gov. Brian Kemp’s initiative to decrease the student-to-counselor ratio, currently one for every 450 students.
