DeKalb Schools rejects plan to layoff teachers - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

The DeKalb County school board rejected a proposal to layoff hundreds of teachers and paraprofessionals on Monday.

According to school district's budget plan, the move would have saved DeKalb about $13 million by eliminating 250 teachers and 120 paraprofessionals.

Teachers and parents praised the school board's rejection of the proposal a 5-2 vote.

"I applaud them for voting against teacher layoffs I do. I think it was the best decision that they've made so far," said parent Lisa Lake.

The plan is part of an effort to make up a massive budget shortfall.

"It's so close to the school year beginning, it's very difficult for me to justify pulling the rug out from under teachers," said school board member Nancy Jester.

Board members who voted against it called on the DeKalb Schools superintendent to come up with other options.

"We have three weeks until school starts, we want to get ready for this process. We've already had a long budget process. The board's worked really hard to get to this point. We want to keep moving forward," said DeKalb Schools spokesperson Walter Woods.

David Schutten of the Organization of DeKalb Educators believes educators jobs remain at risk.

"My advice to the employees in the school system: you need to save 10 to 20 percent of your salary every month to make sure you have money to survive on next summer when the school system runs out of money if they don't make the cuts," said Schutten.

School board members who voted against the layoffs say they want the superintendent's office to go back over the budget line-by-line and find other areas where they can cut costs.