Fulton County School leaders finalize magnet allotment guidelines, limit new programs and tighten staffing rules

Fulton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney told the Board of Education on Jan. 14 that staff had finalized recommended changes to the district’s school allotment guidelines for magnet programs, proposing clearer staffing rules, funding floors for existing programs and limits on adding new programs.

The proposal would continue funding for existing magnet types recognized by the district — International Baccalaureate (IB), Magnet Schools of America recognition and state STEM/STEAM certification — while proposing to end the district’s 3DE (Junior Achievement/3DE) program at Roswell High School. The plan sets specific full-time-equivalent (FTE) staffing allocations: one teacher and a supplement-funded coordinator at elementary schools with magnet identification; a 0.5 FTE coordinator at middle schools; and for a single high‑school magnet program, three FTE teachers plus one FTE coordinator (four FTE total). The staff recommendation also requires those allocated FTEs to be used in the program area rather than flexibly across other school needs.

The changes are intended to ensure district-provided magnet funds are used for the specialized programs they were intended to support. "We want to make sure that the funding the board provides for these specialized programs actually goes to what your intent was in the program to start with," Looney said.

Why it matters: Board members said the district has lacked a single definition of what constitutes a magnet program and no consistent system to track which students participate. Several members urged the district…