No one will be surprised that the Griffin-Spalding County School System began the school year with 57 fewer employees than last year. Budget reductions caused by decreasing state and local revenue brought about changes in operations and instruction.  

The greatest percentage decrease is in number of administrators, which is down 8%. There are 2% fewer support staff members and 5% fewer teachers than in 2012-13. Total number of employees is 1,455 this year compared to 1,512 last year.

"The decrease in employees has overwhelmingly occurred through attrition," said Stephanie Dobbins, Director of Human Resources. "Almost half of the 68 employees who completed our exit survey were retiring."

She said, "Historically school systems nation wide have reported 'the supervisor' is the number one reason for an employee leaving a work place."

Several factors figure into the decrease in number of teachers:

• a 1% drop in FTE (Full Time Equivalent) student count; and
• a change in the middle school staffing pattern. The number of planning periods for middle school teachers decreased from two to one and Connections teachers now have a full teaching schedule.

In spite of the decrease in total number of employees there was an increase at two schools: Anne Street Elementary and Orrs Elementary.

There are no employees credited to the former Taylor Street Achievement Center because they were absorbed into the facility count for A. Z. Kelsey Academy.

Central Office numbers increased because:

• Race to the Top funds two part-time, time-limited administrators;
• The Director of Instructional Technology was reclassified to the Central Office; and
• Central Registration opened to ease the work load on schools and required three staff members.

Three Griffin-Spalding schools were named Reward Schools, the category reserved for schools across the state with the highest performance or the biggest academic gains by students in the last three years. The schools are Anne Street Elementary, Jordan Hill Elementary and Spalding High School.

"We are proud of your schools!"Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones said to the principals and their staffs through email when he received the news yesterday from the Georgia Department of Education.

The three schools are in the Reward School High Progress category. Only 10 % of Title I schools can be named to this group. These schools had the highest progress in performance for the "All Students" group (n size ≥ 30) over three years. Another criterion was that the school not be identified as a Priority School, Focus School, or Alert School.

Out of 11 schools named High Progress in the Griffin RESA District, Spalding had three. The others were Henry County (1); Lamar County (1), Thomaston-Upson (1) and Newton County (5). The other category in Reward Schools, highest performing, had only Fayette County with three schools named.

Employee retention a concern in Griffin-Spalding County School System

Human Resources Director Stephanie Dobbins says many financial factors are affecting the retention of talented employees in the Griffin-Spalding County School System.

State austerity reductions in place for the past several years have severely decreased school system funding.

With an average of 9.1 years of experience, employees are leaving for higher paying positions, she said. (The average teacher experience is 13.3 years.) All administrators and classified employees have had no step increase in salary in four years and an additional decrease in pay through up to 20 furlough days over that same time period.

Teachers have had step increases the past four years but also experienced 20 furlough days. This year's step increase was neutralized by the addition of another step on the salary schedule.

While some employees were attracted to school system employment for the health insurance benefit, they have seen the attraction they once had erode because of the cost of their health insurance.

At the board of education meeting Tuesday, October 30, Stephanie Dobbins used the illustration of a secretary's cost of health insurance increasing while salary was decreasing.

Spalding High School students arrested

Following up on a phone call received Thursday, November 1, the Spalding County Sheriff's Department and Spalding High School administrators conducted a day-long investigation that culminated with the arrest of five students on various drug and weapons charges.

Spalding High School principal Derrell Jeffcoat said, "We appreciated the phone tip made to the Sheriff's Department. When we receive information about an illegal substance that might be on our campus, we will investigate. We want to feel as confident as we can that drugs or weapons of any sort are not on Spalding High School property. This includes any place on our campus - in vehicles, on visitors and of course with our students.

"We are obligated to keep our school as safe as possible. We thank those who cooperated with us yesterday especially the Spalding County Sheriff's Department. "