“We hope to begin suggesting tentative solutions for the board later in March as we are still gathering information regarding the current State of Georgia Legislative session,” said Brad Johnson, the district’s chief financial officer.
He said the budget calendar he will present to the board Wednesday will detail dates for major budget tasks during the next four months.
“The goal is to move through the calendar and arrive at a balanced budget,” he said. “Our tentative budget approval date is May 2013.”
The state requires public school boards to approve annual budgets by June 30 of each year.
Johnson will also present the quarterly financial report, board-approved expenditures and talk about how Cobb Schools continues to spend the least amount of money compared to other metro Atlanta districts on administrative and support costs and is among the highest on spending for classroom instruction.
The board will talk at the Wednesday work session about whether to approve the following items at its Feb. 28 regular meeting:
* A $3.04 million contract with Merit Construction Co. of Atlanta to renovate Baker Elementary School in Acworth.
The project is 41 percent, or $883,507, over budget, will be paid for with SPLOST III funds and should be completed by July 26.
Chris Ragsdale, Cobb’s deputy superintendent of operations, said there is $4.6 million in the SPLOST contingency fund, which will fund the overage.
* A $900,000 contract with Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Inc. of San Diego, Calif., to extend a contract to install the buzz-in system for all elementary and middle school and any additional badge entry systems over the next 12 months.
The contract will run between April 1 and March 31, 2014, and be funded by SPLOST III.
* A $734,280 contract with Diversified Construction of Georgia in Decatur to renovate Argyle Elementary School in Smyrna.
The project is 96 percent, or $359,720, over budget, will be paid for with SPLOST III funds and should be completed by Sept. 6.
* A $540,400 contract with Edupoint Educational Systems LLC of Irvine, Calif., to the K-12 software licensing for Synergy Gradebook and Synergy Toolkit to help with student scheduled.
The Request For Proposal (RFP) will be paid for with SPLOST III funding beginning March 1. The software licensing will cost $264,000 and the installation, implementation and training is estimated to cost $250,000.
* A $504,965 contract with Bon Building Services of Conyers to renovate Nicholson Elementary School in Marietta.
The project is 18 percent, or $107,355, under budget, will be paid for with SPLOST III funds and should be completed by July 19.
* A $443,800 contract with Classic Plains Construction LLC of Marietta to renovate Harmony Leland Elementary School in Mableton.
The project is 44 percent, or $137,278, over budget, will be paid for with SPLOST III funds and should be completed by July 19.
* A $200,331 contract with Wade Ford Inc. of Smyrna to purchase seven 2013 Ford Escape SEs for the Cobb transportation department and two for the SPLOST program management.
The cars, which are replacing 13-plus-year-old cars with an average of 90,000 miles on each, will be paid for out of SPLOST III and purchased between March 1 and Feb. 28, 2014.
* A $220,000 contract with one of seven vendors that submitted a bid and qualified for the RFP for occupational therapy services for the district.
It will be funded by Medicaid contract services.
The work session is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. with public comments in the Cobb School board room, 514 Glover St., in Marietta.
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In addition, why do you need a new scheduling software? seems like the old one is working just fine. Being a parent these items are really easy to see, I bet you there a large number of other places cuts can be made.