Georgia Trust for Local News reporter shines light on dire finances of local schools
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Growing up in Middle Georgia, Rodney Manley remembers waiting every day as a child for his local newspaper to arrive. And when he finally got his hands on The Courier Herald, he went straight to the sports section.
Back then, he had no idea that he’d one day end up working for his
hometown newspaper and uncovering the dire financial condition of the Dublin City School District.
Manley has covered just about everything over a 35-year career: business, sports, religion, county government. Even the home and garden beat. Plus, like most community journalists, he has spent his share of time editing and laying out papers.
But he has never covered anything quite like what recently unfolded on his education beat in Dublin. For starters, the Dublin City School District is notorious for being tough to cover.
“It has been a difficult beat, because they just weren’t very cooperative,” said Manley, who has covered the district for four years.
In the past year, the challenge and importance of the beat grew. Despite the upbeat pronouncements of district leaders, Manley reported that the school district had not paid $6 million in contributions to the state health insurance program.
The district had operated with a deficit for 10 years, some years as high as $7 million, but had announced it had gotten out of the red several years ago and had a $5 million surplus on its budget of about $47 million.
“I’m not sure how much credibility you can put in their numbers,” Manley said.
He obtained a copy of a letter the state school superintendent sent to Dublin district leaders, telling them the district had not paid $6 million in contributions to the state health insurance, and had not had an audit since 2021. Later reporting showed the current deficit could be as high as $13 million.
Manley’s sources continued providing correspondence between the state and the school district.
“It got to the point that I actually got some complaints that I was writing stories before the school board members got the same letters,” he said.
Other documentation showed that the district had operated in a deficit for the entire 2025 fiscal year – yet had given the local superintendent a large raise.
“That got folks really riled up around here,” Manley said.
Two days after the first story came out, the finance director resigned. After Manley’s story on the pay raise, the superintendent took an early retirement.
The story has driven readers to the Courier Herald, which publishes three times a week, and its website.
“It’s been a big story, as you can imagine,” Manley said. “There was a time if there was not something about this in the paper, readers would complain."
The City of Dublin is in Middle Georgia, between Savannah and Atlanta. The Courier Herald is the main source of news for residents of the city of about 16,000.
This is Manley’s second stint at the Courier Herald, after working at The Wiregrass Farmer in Ashburn, Ga., and The Macon Telegraph.
The Courier Herald is where residents know they can find out what is happening in their neighborhood, providing the kind of quality journalism that fosters civic connection essential for communities.
The Dublin City School District financial crisis story is not over. Through tax increases as high as 25 percent, staff cuts and advances on state aid, the district may be stabilizing. But Manley will be keeping a close watch on how long it takes to recover, and if the state investigation yields any criminal charges.
“The story is a good example of why the local newspaper is still a necessary part of the community,” Manley said. “We still matter.”
