A belated payday could be on the way for the McDuffie County School system. The system may soon be getting $150,000 of equalization funding it was owed by the state of Georgia, according to State Sen. Joey Brush.
Sen. Brush, who is the chair of the Senate Education Committee, told The McDuffie Mirror that the money owed to the school system would be replaced by an addition to the larger education bill that had recently been passed by an education sub-committee.
"They had earned the money," Sen. Brush said. "The (Department of Education) verified that, so in the sub-committee Thursday I made the proposal and it passed the sub-committee to put it in there for them."
The equalization funding was initially denied because the school system missed the governor's deadline to inform the state that it had raised its millage rate.
The deadline was missed because the McDuffie County Board of Education was unable to vote on the millage rate increase until the tax assessor's office finished the tax digest which was several months late.
That reports of the equalization funds being appropriated for McDuffie County was good news to Ed Grisham's ears. The Superintendent of McDuffie County Schools had stated in earlier interviews that the chances of the money coming to the system didn't look good.
"If in fact that can clear the House side also, we will be delighted," Dr. Grisham said.
According to Sen. Brush, the money owed to the school system will be in the fiscal year '05 budget which starts in July. He said that he expects no problems passing the bill with the adjustment his committee made.
