Pay cuts still likely, tax hike is not says Hall schools superintendent

GAINESVILLE - While we are still a couple of weeks away from a final budget for the Hall County School System, Superintendent Will Schofield said Wednesday that discussion of a salary reduction for all employees has not changed.

Schofield said that he likely will recommend a 2.4% pay reduction for most employees and a 3.4% reduction in his own salary. The exceptions will be school nurses who already are losing 7% of their pay because of losing a half hour a day, paraprofessionals who will have their days cut from 190 to 183, and Board Certified Teachers who likely will lose a portion of their state-promised 10% supplement.

Schofield noted that there is a silver lining to the budget cloud.

"We (the school board) think it looks like there's a real strong chance that we will not be raising property taxes in spite of the loss of millions of dollars from other sources," commented Schofield. "We just don't think we can do that to our public at this time."

The school board will meet Monday, June 1 at 4:00 p.m. in a work session that will focus on the budget. Schofield said board members should then vote on an initial budget on June 8, and then a formal budget and a millage rate will be adopted on June 25.