School Board Approves Rollback Millage Rate, Parent Asks To Bring Back Davis-DMS Bus
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
Directly before the regular monthly meeting of the Dade County Board of Education on Aug. 25, the board met to discuss and vote on the millage rate. Last year, the school board’s millage rate was 14.000 mills. This year, the rollback rate is 13.530, and the board voted to use this rate instead of keeping it at 14.000.
If you’re accustomed to seeing the advertisements and public hearing notices about the school board’s millage rate, you might have wondered where those were this year. When boards go with the rollback rate or lower, they aren’t required to advertise or hold the hearings.
In the past, the board has not wanted to drop below 14.000 mills because the state only offered equalization funds to school systems with a 14.000 or higher millage rate. Thankfully, the state passed a bill this year lowering the equalization threshold down to 10.000 mills.
However, the local fair share has not changed, so as usual, the state will take the value of five mills from Dade. Essentially, Dade gets 8.530 mills worth of revenue, and the state gets the other 5.000. As the gross digest increases, so does the value of a mill. Josh Ingle (superintendent) said, “Every time the value of a mill goes up, so does the local fair share. When the value of a mill goes up, what they’re taking from us goes up.”
Even with the rollback rate, the school system will see a net property tax revenue increase of $318,681 (a 3.98 percent increase from last year). This is due to increases in the digest.
The school system has a deficit budget for FY26 and will use the reserve fund to make up the $2.7 million difference. The reserve fund balance at the start of FY26 was over $9 million, but the projected balance for the end of FY26 is less than $6.5 million.
While tight seasons like this are the reason for the reserve fund, Jayne Griffin (At-Large representative) noted that the system can’t keep using millions from the fund each year or it will dry up. However, for this year, the board wanted to ease the burden on the taxpayers as property values increase.
Moving on to the regular meeting, Ingle presented some encouraging data from the Georgia Milestones Assessments. He said, “We know we have areas for improvement, but we have a lot to celebrate.”
Comparing the 2023-2024 school year to last school year, Dade County Schools rose in the ranks of the Northwest Georgia Regional Education Service Agency (RESA).
Looking at district-wide test scores, Dade rose from ninth to seventh place in English Language Arts, from tenth to sixth place in math, thirteenth to seventh in science, and fifteenth to twelfth in social studies.
The principals will give more in-depth reports next month.
The board talked again about the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (E-SPLOST) referendum that will be on November’s ballot. (See the July 30 Sentinel for more details.)
Griffin highlighted three things about E-SPLOST. 1. It’s a continuation of a tax, not adding a new tax. 2. People from out of town and out of state pay the tax every time they buy something in Dade meaning the tax burden isn’t solely on Dade Countians’ shoulders. 3. With 90 percent of the school system’s budget paying for personnel and a deficit budget, “[E-SPLOST] is the only way our buildings can stay in repair at all.”
Ingle highlighted that in addition to facility upkeep and upgrades, E-SPLOST has been used for things like curriculum, school safety, and technology.
Jennifer Hartline (Sand Mountain representative) said that E-SPLOST has allowed the board to be more proactive instead of reactive.
Next, David Lyons (Dade Middle School seventh grade ELA teacher, athletic director) spoke about the spring 2026 Washington D.C. trip, which happens to line up with America’s 250th anniversary.
Each year, DMS rotates between the Tour of Georgia trip and the Washington D.C. trip, and it’s the capital’s turn this school year. From May 4-8, students will get to visit the White House, the Smithsonian, the Pentagon, the National Archives, Mount Vernon, Monticello, many memorials, and much more.
Lyons shared that during the 2024 trip, Japan’s prime minister just so happened to be passing through at the same time, so the students got to witness this foreign dignitary’s entourage.
The trip costs $1,050 per student and $1,250 per adult chaperone. This includes insurance so students can cancel up to 72 hours before departure. Lyons reported that two fundraisers for the trip (Driven Coffee in October and Chicken Salad Chick in February) will be returning due to their success last time.
Moving on to repairs, expenses, and allocations, the board approved $36,206 to repair the Dade Elementary School HVAC unit which stopped working in the third week of August. Reeves Heating and Air was the lowest of four bids, and this is the one the board selected.
The board approved using the leftover contingency funds from the Davis Elementary School construction to repair outdoor steps, handrails, and add awnings. This work totals about $45,000.
The board voted to accept federal funds in the form of Title II allocations ($87,612), Title IV allocations ($31,031), and a Perkins V grant ($30,888) for Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE). The board also accepted state funds in the form of a CTAE grant ($41,927) and state agriculture education grants (totaling $12,488).
They approved using $39,100 of the Title II funds to pay for training teachers in morphology (the study of how morphemes—prefixes, roots/bases, suffixes—are combined to form words). The training is a 30-hour course.
The board approved the school system’s strategic plan for 2025-2030. Some interesting pieces in the multi-goal plan that stand out are: Promote students’ ownership of their learning, promote business and community partnerships, develop and retain qualified staff, and support employee development.
The board approved a memorandum of understanding with Terry Haney to provide professional learning services. Haney retired from Northwest Georgia RESA and now works directly with school systems to provide content-specific professional development. Ingle reported that Haney is an expert in math but will look at all areas where Dade can improve.
Title II funds will be used to pay Haney, but the board did not mention the exact amount.
The board approved the Davis capital outlay plan application. The plan would involve replacing the roof on the cafeteria and the lower building and replacing the HVAC units in both buildings. The board hasn’t put these projects out for bid, so they don’t know the cost yet, but the reimbursement money they will receive from the Georgia Department of Education is $331,338 regardless of the cost.
During Public Input, Jennifer Hawkins (parent of students at DMS and Davis) requested that the school system consider reinstating the bus that took students from Davis to DMS. This bus route wasn’t possible last year due to construction at Davis, but it wasn’t reinstated this year.
Hawkins explained that it takes about 25 minutes (on a normal day without wrecks) to get from Davis to the front doors of DMS. Davis doesn’t open until 7:20, but the middle school’s day starts at 7:50, making it a close call for her middle schooler to get to class on time. According to Google Maps, the four-mile trip should take about eight minutes, but during school and commuting traffic, it takes much longer.
“Where we live, my middle schooler would need to get on the bus at 6:15 in the morning,” Hawkins explained. “That’s pretty early for us, and it’s a challenge.” She’s talked to other families who are also struggling with this problem.
She explained that with the bus, at least students could be dropped off at the front steps instead of having to wait in the long line to get to the top entrance behind the school.
Jason Crisp (North Dade representative) said he can easily see that this is a problem, and Hartline said, “I get it. I’ve been there.” Griffin thanked Hawkins for bringing this issue to the board’s attention and said they are glad to take this into consideration.
The personnel report is as follows:
- Hires: Cameron Valtierra, Victoria Jones
- Substitute Teachers: Felicia Christopher, Sophie Ragon, Selena Clayton, Danny Swader, Emily Art, JoAnne Gilley, Heather Velez, Angie Dean, Amity Cordell, Matt Wheeler, Ellie Ingle, Elizabeth Wilson, Krista Bastian, Allison Dean, Joni Houts, Isabella Blake, Kathleen Reed, Heather Coffman, Crystal Conner, Heather Setser, Jordain Shrum, Josee Biddle, Jiwoong Jeon, Mina Garrett, Mary Little, Kaylea Kirkland
- Resignations: Jackie Miles, Kendra Kanady, Cindy Sullivan, Rodney Cartwright
