Not only does Gwinnett County Public School system count as the county’s largest employer, but it’s also the public school system with the largest budget in Georgia.
In the 2020 fiscal year, GCPS has a capital budget of $2.319 billion. Yes, billion. Of that budget, $1.795 billion goes to the general fund which represents the daily operations of the schools.
A budget of over $2 billion can seem like a lot. However, considering the fact that GCPS is Gwinnett’s largest employer with over 230,000 employees and it serves over 180,000 students each day in 141 schools, the number starts making more sense.
According to GCPS, the cost of educating one child per year in Gwinnett is $9,960. Multiply that by each student, and student instruction accounts for 71.3% of the entire budget.
GCPS will receive an additional $63.1 million in the state Quality Basic Education (QBE) funding formula due to a number of factors:
- $7.7 million for projected growth in student enrollment
- $41.4 million for salary increases allotted through the State Teacher Salary Schedule
- $8.4 million for the state-funded portion of teacher salary step increases (compensation for training and experience) and the additional certificated employees who will be enrolled in state health insurance plans
- $1.2 million due to an increase in the rate of the employer contribution to the Teachers Retirement System; and
- $4.4 million due to an increase in Equalization Grant funding
Some of the increase in the budget goes to salary and benefits for the 104 additional teacher/instructional support positions needed to support the enrollment growth of 446 students and the opening of one new high school.
You can learn more about all the great schools in Gwinnett by visiting our Schools page.
