Baker schools battle money woes

NEWTON, Ga. — The head of the Baker County School System paints a bleak financial picture of the district, saying that when he took the job in January, he inherited a system on the brink of ‘financial collapse.”

Superintendent Freddie Thompson now finds himself in charge of a school system in peril and under review, thanks to a push by a local citizens group which help convince members of the Baker County grand jury to launch an investigation.

In an email to The Herald, Thompson said that when he began the job in January 2010, he found that the district was in financial disarray.

“I assume the responsibility for a school system that was on the verge of financial collapse,” Thompson wrote. “The system is in deficit financing, it defaulted on its Tax Anticipation Note (TAN) that was due December 31, 2010, as well as, at that time having more than a hundred thousand dollars in unpaid bills.”

“Even with such a dismal picture, I am committed to restoring the school system to a sound financial base and providing the best quality of education possible to the boys and girls of Baker County.”

Despite the tight financial situation, Thompson said Monday that students should feel relatively little impact when the new school year starts. However, all staff members have been furloughed six days.

Members of the Baker County Citizens Concerned About Education testified before the grand jury July 18, District Attorney Joe Mulholland said.

According to a document on the group’s website, members contend that the board spends $14,000 per student on education and that school system leaders have been unresponsive to citizen complaints and have even refused to produce public documents showing the system’s budget, expenses and revenues.

Thompson said that his administration has complied with the requests from the group.

“The Baker County Concerned Citizens Group have made numerous requests for information under the Public Records Act, all of which we have complied to,” he writes.