Chattooga County School Superintendent, Dr. Dwight Pullen told a crowd of over 250 people on Tuesday evening that a Four Day School Week would not be enough to meet the budget short-fall the Chattooga County School system is facing in the upcoming year.  Dr. Pullen told the crowd that there are several options on the table including the Four Day School Week. 

Some of those options include cuts to sports programs, elimination of some bus service and a property tax increase. Pullen said “The cold hard reality (is) it’s going to take a combination (of these options) to reach a $2 million deficit.”  The schools system is limited to the amount of the budget that they can cut, since around 75% of the system’s budget is teacher pay which is set by the state.   

The Four Day School Week would save the system around $267,000 in estimated costs. Some parents who spoke at the meeting were concerned about how the shortened week would affect their younger children.  The teachers that spoke at the meeting said that given the option of larger class sizes or a four day school week, they would much rather have the four day school week. 

Dr. Pullen addressed the problem of students being out on Monday and what it would do to parents that needed child care.  Pullen said that the community might have to step in and help with childcare throughout the county.  The superintendent said that in Peach County Georgia, which adopted a four day week last year, area churches had stepped up to provide child-care.  Dr. Pullen asked the help of the Chattooga County Ministerial Association President, Dr. John Hayes, should the county adopt a four-day school week.