Dublin City Schools eliminate jobs, cut calendar days to reduce deficit

After cutting more than 50 positions last week, the cash-strapped Dublin City Board of Education approved a second phase of its deficit reduction plan Monday, looking to save another $3 million through steps that include cutting calendar days, reducing and realigning select staff and the suspension of all district-paid travel.

Also under the second phase, school board members will waive their salaries for the current and next fiscal years, and all board travel for FY26 will be eliminated.

According to state education officials, the Dublin City Schools faces a $13.4 million deficit by the time the current fiscal year ends next June. The schools got an advance of $1.4 million in state QBE funding last month to meet payroll and other obligations, but state School Superintendent Richard Woods told the board last week that he wants a “viable” deficit reduction plan before he asks the governor’s office for another advance.

Last week, the school board approved a deficit reduction plan that eliminates 51 positions – including nine central office staffers and more than a dozen teachers – and reduces local supplement pay for others. Some of the job cuts were immediate, while others take effect later in the year. The plan was obtained Monday by The Courier Herald through an open records request filed with the school district. It does not say how much money the cuts will save.

The board met Monday in a called meeting to approve Phase II. Details of that plan were included in a news release from the district.

“While these decisions are some of the hardest we’ve ever had to make, they are vital to securing the long-term stability of Dublin City Schools,” Interim Superintendent Marcee Pool said in the release. “Our focus throughout this process has been on maintaining the quality of instruction for our students and minimizing the impact in the classroom as much as possible. Every decision was made with that commitment in mind.”

The district struggled with debt for most of the 2010s before finally climbing of an operating deficit in 2020. Cuts then included pay freezes and furloughs.

Board member Regina McRae said the recent cuts are “really hard” but necessary to build a stronger and “sustainable” school system. 

“It’s not worth just putting a Band-Aid on,”‘ McRae said. “We needed to do the serious work. I know it’s hard, and it’s painful and it’s resulting in people losing their jobs at the end of the day. 

“We don’t want to keep putting our kids through this. We don’t want to keep putting our teachers through this. It’s just one ugly cycle that we’ve got to get out of.” 

Board members also asked that residents be patient until more information is available on the
current financial crisis and how it happened. The controversy led to the resignation of finance director Chad McDaniel and early retirement of Superintendent Fred Williams.

“We know there are gaps there, and we’re trying to fill those gaps,” said board member JoAnna Glover.

In addition to its operating deficit, the school system owes about $6 million to the State Health Benefits Plan after not paying employer contributions for the entire fiscal year 2025. State officials looking into those overdue payments found other “operational deficiencies” that included the system not having completed an audit since 2021, before recently wrapping up 2022’s.

Local lawmakers have since asked the Georgia Department of Audits & Accounts to conduct a “special examination” in the system’s finances. 

“Everything is being audited,” said board member John Bell. “Everything’s being looked at to make sure it’s going where it’s supposed to be going.”

Board member Peggy Johnson said learning that the system had not been paying employer contributions to the State Health Benefit Plan “was like a gut punch,” especially after serving on the board during the previous deficit years.

“I thought I had been through something when we closed Saxon (Elementary), when we froze salaries,” said Johnson.  “We do have support out there, though sometimes when I pick up the paper, it doesn’t feel like it.”

Chairman Kenny Walters cited Georgia Code  20-2-61 that defines the duties of local school board as not to include “micromanaging” the local school superintendent. However, the law goes on to state that it is the board’s role to hold a superintendent accountable and that requesting and reviewing financial documents “does not constitute micromanaging.”

“Nobody can really define clearly what is micromanagement,” he said. “I guess it’s letting people do their jobs and trusting them.”

  Dublin’s dire financial situation has led state Superintendent Richard Woods to ask legislators to pass sweeping reforms that include giving the state more oversight in local school board’s fiscal practices, demanding more accountability and transparency from school boards and limiting contracts for superintendents in high-risk districts to just two years.

“This situation is not only going to help Dublin, it’s going to help the whole state because there are some things that happened here that shouldn’t have happened,” Walters said.

Last week the school board approved a deficit reduction plan that eliminated positions “due to severe and unprecedented budget restraints, a need to reduce the district’s budget deficit by approximately $13 million and to provide for more efficient operations.” Under the plan, the following jobs will be eliminated, effective on the included dates:

PHASE I

District/Central 

Office

• Director of Strategic and Crisis Communication, Oct. 8

• Director of Gifted Services (49 percent), Sept. 29

• Literacy position (49 percent), Sept. 29

• Maintenance Director, Dec. 18

• Curriculum Director, Feb. 1

• CTAE Coordinator, Feb. 1

• Mental Health Counselor, Dec. 18

• Data Collections position, Oct. 31

• Technology Specialist, Dec. 18

Irish Gifted Academy

• P.E. Teacher, Dec. 18

• Assistant Principal, Dec. 18

• Museum Coordinator (49 percent), Oct. 1

• Nurse, Dec. 18

Hillcrest Elementary

• Art Teacher, Oct. 8

• Family Engagement Coordinator, Aug. 1

• Nurse, Dec. 18

Susie Dasher 

Elementary

• P.E./Health Teacher

• Second Grade ELA/SS Teacher

• (2) Interventionist positions, Dec. 18

• Paraprofessional/Bus Driver, Feb. 1

• Family Engagement Coordinator, Oct, 31

• Custodian, Dec. 18

Dublin Middle

• Environmental Specialist, Dec. 18

• Special Education Co-Teacher/Bus Driver, Sept. 1

• P.E. Teacher, Dec. 18

• Art Teacher, Dec. 18

• Nurse, Dec. 18

• Fifth Grade Science Teacher, Dec. 18

• Coach/Fields position, Dec. 18

• SPED position, Jan. 1

Dublin High

• Long-term Substitute Teacher, Oct. 31

• Environmental Specialist, Oct. 8

• Counselor, Dec. 18

• Assistant Principal, Dec. 18

• (3) Paraprofessional/LLDC positions

• Writing Coach (49 percent), Oct. 8

• Guidance Office Secretary (49 percent), Oct. 8

• (2) Teachers, Dec. 18

• Teaching as a Professional teaching position, Dec. 18 

• Biology Teacher, Dec. 18

• Art Teacher, Dec. 18

Moore Street

• (2) Teachers, Dec. 18

• (2) Teaching positions (49 percent), Dec. 18

• Assistant Principal, Dec. 18

• Family Engagement Coordinator, Dec. 18

More cuts …

The following positions will be reduced as described:

• Safety Director will be cut to a 50 percent position

• Extended day pay will be eliminated for the following positions, effective Dec. 18:

– Grades 5-8 Band/DHS Band

– Engineering/Mechatronics at Irish Gifted Academy

– IGA Chorus

– Dublin High School administrative duties

• The director supplement and local supplement will be removed for the Director of Marketing and Sports Information position, effective Oct. 25

The following positions will be reduced by 10 days:

• Elementary Principal

• High School Principal

• Middle School Principal

• Director of Special Education 

• Superintendent

• Director of CTAE

• High School Principal

PHASE II

The second phase of the deficit reduction plan approved includes cost-cutting measures “designed to improve operational efficiency and strengthen long-term sustainability.” Those measures include:

• Reduction in calendar days – A reduction of 10 calendar days for FY26.

• Transportation adjustments – Elimination of school choice routes.

• Travel restrictions – suspension of all district-paid travel, with all professional development to be conducted virtually.

• Board compensation – Board members will waive their salaries for FY26 and FY27, and all board travel will be eliminated in FY26.

• Lucky Loot Program – Rescheduled to February 2026 following receipt of property tax revenues, as this funding is tied to staff compensation. Lucky Loot is a lump sum payment of employees’ salaries typically paid each January.

• Staffing adjustments – Reduction and realignment of select positions across all schools and departments effective Dec. 18, 2025, as well as a reduction in work days for certain administrative and support roles.

Additional reductions may be required during FY26 and are anticipated as part of a future plan for the 2026–2027 school year, the district said in Tuesday’s news release.

“Through this process, we remain focused on our mission—ensuring every Dublin student has access to high-quality learning opportunities,” Pool said. “We are deeply grateful to our staff and community for their continued understanding and support as we work to strengthen our district for the future.”