At the June 13, 2024 Board Meeting, the Tift County Schools Board of Education voted 7-0 to prioritize students and staff with the approval of the FY2025 budget. While the FY25 budget reflects an increase in many areas, including mandatory state increases in health insurance for classified staff and district contributions rates to the Teacher Retirement System of Georgia, Tift County’s Board of Education has prioritized providing staff with some relief from inflation as well as investments to support school operations.
As Tift County Schools strives to attract and retain the top talent in the region, the budget includes an investment of $4 million to provide raises to staff to include classified and certified employees. The FY2025 budget that Superintendent Natalie Gore proposed during the April board meeting includes a raise for nearly every staff member in Tift County Schools district.
For teachers, the raise goes above and beyond the $2,500 raise Gov. Brian Kemp budgeted for teachers, increasing the local supplement by $1,000 and incorporating a salary step increase for all teachers who are due a step raise. This enhancement totals $2.4 million in the general budget, and reflects up to a 8.14% increase for teachers. A starting Tift County Schools teacher with a Bachelor’s degree will make $46,492 beginning in the 2024-2025 school year.
Salary increases of 10% for paraprofessionals and 20% for school nutrition staff will be seen in FY25, while all remaining classified staff will see a 4.1% increase in salary, which totals $1 million in the general budget.
There is also an increase in the amount the district will pay substitute teachers, an investment that makes sure students receive quality educational time even when a teacher can’t be present.
The purchase of core instructional resources in English Language Arts for our K-5 students that meets the criteria within the Georgia Early Literacy Action (HB 538) and alignment to the Science of Reading. In SY24-25 the curriculum team will be evaluating and procuring new math resources. This will give teachers and students access to the most relevant resources available.
The FY2025 budget includes an investment in increasing staff in high demand areas. This includes an additional ESOL teacher, additional Special Education teacher, additional social worker, additional school nurse and a system assessment specialist.
Safety and security enhancements will add six System Security Officers to Tift County Schools along with the purchase of vehicles for these officers. Additional investment will be made in the district’s cyber security posture to enhance efforts to prevent attacks that have hit multiple districts across the country costing taxpayers significant amounts of money.
The Board of Education is committed to ensuring the success of Tift County Schools and hence the broader Tift County Community. This budget demonstrates the Board’s commitment to the students and staff of Tift County Schools through prioritized spending to retain our talent, ensure the safety and security of our students, and ensure our teachers and students have the essential resources needed to be successful.
