Bibb County Schools report $5.5 million midyear budget discrepancy; administration to seek amendment
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Summary
CFO Eric Bush told the Bibb County Board of Education a $5.5 million midyear discrepancy — driven by unbudgeted transportation extra-duty pay, athletic-event costs and a $2 million attrition assumption — and said the administration will present a budget amendment for board approval; no vote was taken at the work session.
Bibb County Schools’ finance chief told the school board that internal reviews uncovered a $5.5 million midyear budget discrepancy and that the administration will present a budget amendment at an upcoming board meeting to correct the records.
CFO Eric Bush said the shortfall stems mainly from omitted extra-duty pay for transportation staff, unbudgeted positions connected to the district’s new Innovation Academy and athletic-event costs — including campus police security overtime, additional custodial work and coaching supplements. "We own that," Bush said, and summarized the items as "a combined discrepancy total $5,500,000."
Why it matters: The adjustment affects the district’s midyear accounting and requires the board to consider a formal budget amendment. Administration officials said the amendment will reconcile previously reported figures and that, after the correction, the district expects to maintain a healthy fund balance.
Details from the presentation: Bush identified three primary categories of omission. He reported about $2,435,000 in unrecorded extra-duty pay for transportation personnel, $577,000 tied to staffing for the Innovation Academy and a $2,000,000 attrition allowance the district historically carried but now proposes to reclaim because higher retention and salary adjustments have reduced the need for that estimate. Separately, Bush said budget amendment No. 1 seeks roughly $1,700,000 to cover additional costs: about $1,000,000 tied to the GNET program and about $700,000 to cover special-education staffing after a reduction in a federal grant. "Ninety percent of our GNET costs are salary benefits," he said.
Board members pressed for detail and timeline. Several members said numbers in board materials had shifted from earlier figures and asked why the administration had not provided itemized, final numbers sooner. One board member asked directly, "Can we trust what you said?" Bush and other administration speakers said the finance team had begun notifying the board by email on Dec. 12 and then issued a more detailed memo on Dec. 19 after further review; he said staff needed time to verify figures before publishing the memo.
Controls and audits: Bush said procurement and approval processes are subject to auditor sampling and three-way invoice matching and that the district is strengthening communication between HR and finance to limit future omissions. He said some athletic-related spending is managed through separate fiduciary (athletic) accounts and that the district confirms funds are available before approving orders.
Numbers cited in the meeting included a reported drop in one transportation salary-and-benefit line from $10.2 million to $8.7 million in a prior year and a staffing reduction this year of three positions, producing about $120,000 in savings. The administration noted that federal award letters and some grant notifications come later in the fiscal cycle, which can complicate year-to-year budgeting for programs such as special education and GNET.
Next steps: No formal vote on a budget amendment occurred during the work session. Bush said the administration will present a budget amendment for board approval at an upcoming meeting. The session ended with a motion to adjourn that carried.
What the board asked for: Board members requested an itemized list of every discovered discrepancy, clearer documentation of previous authorizations for specific procurements and an explicit accounting of which revenue or grant lines will be used to reconcile the figures. Dr. Pickett requested an itemized summary of expenditures over the board’s stated thresholds and said repeated budget errors by staff who review budget materials raised serious concern.
The district referenced public reporting and internal review as the source of the disclosure; a board member noted a media inquiry about whether the Georgia Department of Education had been notified. Based on information presented, administration officials characterized the item as a local budget reconciliation identified through routine internal financial reviews and said they had disclosed the matter to the board and will seek formal amendment approval at the board meeting.
The board adjourned without acting on the proposed amendment; the administration will return with the formal amendment and the itemized backup the board requested.
