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Board members say DeKalb faces roughly $200 million shortfall; operations and state audits underway
Summary
Board member Anna Hill presented calculations suggesting a combined SPLOST/ESSER shortfall of roughly $201.8 million; superintendent and finance staff acknowledged the shortfall and said operations and FY23 audits are active steps toward clarification.
Board member Anna Hill laid out itemized calculations in the Dec. 9 DeKalb County Board of Education meeting that she said demonstrate a material funding shortfall when projected SPLOST receipts are compared with updated project cost estimates and when ESSER commitments are included.
Hill said SPLOST 5 estimated revenue is approximately $630,300,000 while estimated completion costs (including large projects such as Druid Hills High School) total about $698,700,000, producing a SPLOST 5 gap Hill calculated at roughly $68,400,000. She added an estimated SPLOST 6 gap of about $33,000,000 and cited about $100,000,000 in ESSER‑era commitments to specific schools, producing a combined shortfall Hill presented as approximately $201,848,532.
Superintendent Devon Q. Horton and finance staff acknowledged that many East Plus 5 projects are contractually obligated and that cost escalations and earlier pauses in project spending contributed to increased estimates. Finance director (transcribed as Mr. Schooneman) told the board the FY23 audit engagement is in a review stage with the auditor in charge pulling additional managers to assist; an audit exit conference was requested for late January and the firm planned to finalize its report in January.
Why it matters: A verified district shortfall at the scale presented would affect capital priorities, possible reallocation decisions and the timeline for school construction — and could influence local funding discussions in the months ahead.
What officials said - Anna Hill (board member): Presented detailed figures and described the specific sources (quarterly financial reports and operations estimates) used to compute the shortfall. “If you look at the difference where we have more budget than revenue, that 1 is 33,000,000, so that gets us at 101,000,000, and then the ESSER is 100,000,000. So that’s a calculated shortfall of 201,848,532,” Hill stated in her remarks. - Dr. Joyce Morley (board member): Urged an external operations audit and repeatedly opposed motions to place project items on consent until more transparency is provided. - Superintendent Devon Q. Horton / Mr. Schooneman (finance): Confirmed an operations audit and an FY23 audit review process; explained cost escalation and project timing contributed to higher estimates.
Clarifying context and limits The shortfall figures presented at the meeting were explicit calculations made by a board member using numbers pulled from district presentations and finance reports; staff acknowledged different report dates and updated estimates can change totals. The board did not adopt a formal accounting change or an official audited shortfall number in this meeting — staff indicated audit and reporting steps were in progress.
Next steps Finance and operations staff said they will continue to provide updated project estimates and that audit work (operations and FY23 audit reviews) is ongoing; the board discussed forming additional review or oversight mechanisms.
Speakers (selected): Anna Hill; Joyce Morley; Devon Q. Horton; Schooneman (finance).
