Atlanta Public School Budget Breakdown 2024-2025 – Capital B News

Budget season is officially over for Atlanta Public Schools.

The Atlanta School Board on Monday approved a record $1.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2025. APS expects its spending to increase next year by about $86 million, or a 7% jump from last year’s budget, primarily due to salary increases and new investments in student nutrition.

Here are some of the highlights of the budget.

Big raises for teachers

The district plans to spend $58.9 million on salary increases, allowances and cost-of-living adjustments. APS teachers can expect an 11 percent pay increase, the largest in at least 15 years, officials say. Teachers will also receive an additional $2,500 increase in the FY 2025 state budget, which Gov. Brian Kemp recently signed into law in May.

Incoming teacher salaries start at $54,735, making the district one of the highest payers in the state.

Investing in reading instruction

The district plans to spend $11.8 million on literacy initiatives and ensure literacy coaches are available to students in each of its 55 elementary schools. In 2022, only 25% of the district’s eighth graders were reading at a proficient level, according to a National Assessment of Educational Progress report.

APS will also spend $9 million on special education services and $7.8 million on additional support positions.

A new homemade nutritional program

The district currently works with Arizona-based Southwest Foodservice Excellence to serve breakfast and lunch to more than 40,000 students daily. But that will change; APS plans to use $15.4 million to create an in-house nutrition program. This means the district will manage and operate its own food services, rather than contracting them out to outside providers.

The millage rate remains unchanged, for now

APS proposes to maintain the millage rate at 20.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The millage rate is a tax rate that APS uses to calculate the amount of property taxes residents living in the school district must pay.

The district says its principles for considering a millage rate increase include strategic investments, continuous improvement in resource utilization and the impact of unfunded mandates or lost revenue.