SAVANNAH, Ga. () – The Savannah-Chatham County Public School (SCCPSS) district unveiled their proposal for a budget increase amounting to tens of millions of dollars during a public hearing on Wednesday night.
However, only one citizen showed up to voice their opinion on the SCCPSS FY 2026 budget.
“Things cost more,” SCCPSS Board President Roger Moss stated. “We want to better support our teachers. We have plans for additions such as school counselors and more resources for our students.”
According to the district’s budget, SCCPSS will increase their general fund expenditure by over $36 million from FY 2025 to 2026.
Among the general fund expenses under the district’s operational costs, there is a budgeted 3% cost of living raise for teacher salaries, totaling just under nine million.
“The cost of housing in Savannah has gone up,” Moss said. “If you are a teacher, of course that’s going to affect you. That affects us being competitive with other markets when recruiting and retaining teachers.”
The SCCPSS board President also said there are currently fewer than 100 vacant teacher positions in the district. There is a deduction of 10 million for vacancies in the budget.
“We’re not allowing for 300 vacancies, but we do allow for some,” Moss said.
According to the district’s budget presentation, the majority of the funding increase will come from local tax revenue with an expected contribution of just over nine million from the state.
However, one funding source was notably absent from the budget.
“We don’t have money from the feds in there. So, we’re not assuming anything,” Moss said. “The money that we get from the federal government, it’s less than 10%. It’s more like 6%.”
Though, board officials said they were prepared regardless.
“It’s an impact that we would have to address but it’s not earth-shattering,” he said. “We would have to offset it with our general fund.”
There will be another public hearing on May 14.
