UPDATE: No public comments were heard for the Rockdale County Public Schools budget hearing Thursday. RCPS Finance Director Lee Davis presented a brief summary of the proposed budget, including the 3 percent pay raise for all employees, additional technology support teacher, additional special education teachers, more money coming from the state, and more "flex" points for hiring teachers and parapros.

"It was a very different budget this year," he said, referring to a year of deciding what items to add back into the budget after years of having to cut the budget.

He also highlighted the amount spent per student has remained about the same since before the recession - about $8,000 - while the amount of local funds received per student has gone down. The local digest or the amount of taxable property value, shrank by more than $10 million and local funds per student went down from about $3,700 to about $2,700.

"Expenditure kept in line per student but local revenue decreased by $1,000 per student," said Davis.

The second phase of the one-to-one technology rollout is on track with high school students scheduled to receive laptops and tablets in the coming school year, funded by the E- SPLOST penny sales tax. More technology staff were reinstated for each school in anticipation of the one-to-one roll out.

In other school board business: 

- Rockdale Career Academy Interim Assistant Principal Chris Mays was approved 4-0 as RCA Assistant Principal. (Three of the seven school board members - Mandy North, Katrina Young, Sharron Pharr - were not present).

- Alpha Academy Interim Principal Alex Guilford was approved 4-0 as Alpha Campus Principal. Guilford had been serving as interim principal since last May.

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A public hearing on the proposed $139 million budget for Rockdale County Public Schools will take place tonight, 6:45 p.m., at 954 N. Main Street, before the school board's 7 p.m. work session.

The school board will vote on the final budget at the June 18 meeting, 7 p.m.