The Chattooga Board of Education is meeting this evening at 6 PM to adopt the 2023-2024 Fiscal Year budget for the county school system.

A review of the proposed budget shows that the school system is facing increasing costs in employee insurance costs.  That is due to the state legislature shifting much of the burden to local school districts.  Also bus drivers and para pro employees are coming back on the school system’s payroll because Federal COVID-era money has dried up.  The school system has also lost around $1.3 million in equalization money from the state because property values have gone up.

Nearly every school district in the state is scrambling to find a way to make up the difference in their budget.

While the local school system is facing a $1.1 million budget shortfall, much of it due to the increase in insurance, the system still has around $7 million in reserves.  The budget meeting is open to the public and will be held at the Chattooga Education Center on Penn Street in Summerville.