Gainesville schools taking half-million dollar hit from decreased tax digest

GAINESVILLE - The Gainesville Board of Education learned Tuesday night that a decrease in the local tax digest projections will result of a loss of $510,936 to the school system.

The district's Chief Financial Officer, Janet Allison, told the board this is about 2.4 percent of the original projection.

Also, Tiffany Lommel, Director of School Nutrition, reported that, for the first time in many years, the free and reduced lunch rate in city schools has declined. Most notable was Fair Street where there was a reduction by nine percent in the number of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

She indicated that this was a hopeful sign that more parents had found jobs, adding, it is also likely that fewer of the new students entering the school system this year qualified for free or reduced lunches.

Sarah Bell, Director of Standards and Assessment, gave a report on the increased enrollment in the Gifted Program and the numerous models being used for service in schools. The school system has provided Gifted Endorsement classes for teachers and has doubled the number of endorsed teachers from school year 2010-11. The Georgia Department of Education previously consulted with the district and commended the district for offering more service by the use of multiple models.