DALTON, Ga. — With board member Steve Laird the lone dissenting voice, members of the Dalton Board of Education approved a budget for the next fiscal year that will see the system run a deficit of $1.2 million.

By a 4-1 vote Monday night, board members approved a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 with $73.3 million in general fund revenues and $74.5 million in expenditures. The school system will have a projected ending fund balance of nearly $12.3 million. Earlier budget projections had estimated the ending fund balance would dip below $10 million, which Superintendent Jim Hawkins has said is the necessary mark needed to cover any emergencies.

Board Chairman Rick Fromm and members Tulley Johnson, Sherwood Jones and Pablo Perez voted for the final budget as well as a nearly half-a-million dollar reallocation from the general fund to address mobile classrooms at Dalton Middle and improvements for athletics fields and facilities at Dalton High School.

Laird said he wasn’t against the spending, just where the money is coming from.

“The objection to the capital budget is that I think the money needs to come from ESPLOST (Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax),” he said. “We received an additional $1.4 million from Whitfield County on the ESPLOST and so that money is unclaimed. Anytime we move money from the general fund for capital expenditures we can’t move the money back. My maximum flexibility is let’s take that from ESPLOST money rather than from the general fund.”

Of the budget as a whole, Laird said he favored an earlier draft with less spending with an operating deficit of less than a million dollars.

Board members seem poised to continue to look at the possibility of a new facility for sixth- and seventh-graders to help alleviate overcrowding at the middle and high schools. By moving the majority of ninth-graders away from Dalton High School, the school would be able to move down in classification in regards to competition in the Georgia High School Association (GHSA).

Currently, Dalton is in Class 6A and must travel to Cobb and Cherokee counties in metro Atlanta for region games and other competitions. The rest of the schools in northwest Georgia are Class 5A and below, with Whitfield County high schools Southeast and Northwest in Class 4A and Coahulla Creek joining Murray County and North Murray in Class 3A.

During a work session before the board’s regular meeting, subcommittees of a committee examining the feasibility of a flex schedule to enable the high school to address overcrowding and travel concerns for athletics made reports. The consensus of the committee, comprised of administrators, staff and community members, was that the flex concept is too expensive and not viable as a long-term solution. The estimated cost was nearly $3 million.

“Conclusion from all the groups was this was something that bubbled up from the community and it does not meet the requirements of our objectives,” Hawkins said. “Absent other direction, the committee has fulfilled its mandate.”

Which puts the 6/7 model for a new facility back in the spotlight as the board members look to the 2018-19 school year. Hawkins said the 6/7 plan, with eighth- and ninth-graders attending the current Dalton Middle facility, offers the best chance for addressing both overcrowding and GHSA concerns.

Laird said he is less concerned with athletics than he is academics.

“One of my challenges is that we shouldn’t be spending money to get to a GHSA classification, we should be spending money to improve the academic environment,” he said.

Dalton High football coach Matt Land addressed the board members.

“What I would encourage you to do is to see athletics as part of the solution and not something you have to decide between,” Land said. “As a trustee of our program, as an alumnus, certainly as a taxpayer and most importantly as a dad, I think it is time to do something. I am encouraged by the pursuit of some of our board members who seem to be moving in the direction of the 6/7 model. It is frustrating to see some on this board who choose to obstruct progress.”

“You have had nine years to prepare for this moment,” he said. “I have been on four committees alone that have dealt with this issue in the seven years I have been employed. Don’t worry about making the ‘right’ decision. After nine years you have the information to make the ‘best’ decision possible.”

Laird said after the meeting he isn’t trying to obstruct anything, he is waiting to see a real plan.

“I think the 6/7, when it was proposed, I agreed to it,” Laird said. “I think it is a good plan, but I want to see the plan. I was really surprised Matt came out acting like I was against it. I have been nothing but for it. But we need to have a plan before we go out and buy property. So what’s the plan before we go forward?”