Layoffs, Position Cuts Coming for Bibb School District

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – As part of a Reduction in Force plan approved by the Bibb County School Board Thursday night, 101 school employees could be laid off.

The board voted 6-2 to approve the plan, with board members Lester Miller and Jason Downey voting against it.

74 of the 101 are teacher positions.  13 are other employees like janitors and lunchroom workers, and an additional 14 central office employees will also be affected by the RIF.

Also Thursday, the administration suggested the board make major cuts to help the district balance its $18.6 million budget deficit.

No action was taken on the budget, but the district’s proposal called for cutting 98 positions–70 of which are teachers–and $198,750 from the Mandarin Chinese Program.  Among other cuts, it also asked for a tax increase.

Even with all that, the district would still be in the red and need to figure out a few more ways to save money.

“We talked about school consolidations,” says Susanne Griffin-Ziebart, acting superintendent.  “We talked about looking at buildings that we might be able to surplos and sell off, so there are some ongoing things that we may need to look through the course of the next school year to position us better from that point going forward.”

Some board members wanted to see more cuts made in the central office and also asked about potential cuts to athletics.  The board will meet next Thursday to dive back into budget talks.

As for the layoffs, administrators will begin identifying which positions will be affected on Friday.