Schools Need To Trim $16 Million

By RONNIE BLAIR
The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 8, 2008

LAND O´ LAKES - The Pasco County School District needs to trim spending by nearly $16 million to cover an anticipated shortfall in the 2008-09 budget, Superintendent Heather Fiorentino said Wednesday.

“We are going to make some severe cuts and try to live within them,” Fiorentino said as she and her staff met in an information session with the media.

Fiorentino did not say how she plans to slice expenses but said she is working on a list of recommendations to present to the Pasco County School Board at a May 20 budget workshop.

The superintendent said her priorities are to avoid cuts that directly affect the classroom and to avoid layoffs if possible.

Ultimately, though, she said, “Nothing´s off the table.”

Fiorentino acknowledged there´s not a lot of wiggle room in the budget, especially if jobs are kept intact. Salaries and benefits account for 85 percent of the general fund. Part of the remaining 15 percent is off limits because of state requirements on how the money is spent.

The district has known for weeks that significant cuts were coming, but Wednesday´s announcement was the first time the district has put a firm dollar figure on the anticipated shortfall. Technically, Pasco is expected to have more money in its general fund this year, an increase of $2.7 million over last year´s $466.6 million.

That increase does not represent a true picture of the district´s financial situation, though, said Olga Swinson, the district´s chief finance officer. Part of the reason: The district is projected to grow by 1,387 students, but the extra money is not keeping up with growth and other expenses.

Without the growth, the district would be $10.2 million in the red, Swinson said. Also, the district anticipates $3.3 million in additional costs for choice programs as a new charter school opens and more students apply for McKay Scholarships, which allow some special education students to attend private schools using tax dollars.

Another factor is a $5.2 million increase in costs for categorical funding, programs in which the state dictates how the money is spent. Most of that increase is because of class-size reduction mandated by a state constitutional amendment.

In total, the district calculates expenses will increase about $18.7 million while funding increases $2.7 million, leaving a roughly $16 million shortfall.

“It´s going to be a difficult year,” Fiorentino said.

Budget Woes May Get Worse

Fiorentino also is fearful the situation could get worse, which happened last year when the Legislature went back into session to make more cuts after budgets were already set. “I don´t think we´ve hit bottom.” Fiorentino said.

Swinson said another factor that worries district officials is whether the total value of property in Pasco County is about to drop, which would affect how much the district collects from its property tax.

The state has projected the tax should generate $162.7 million in 2008-09, up from $155.8 million. That figure won´t hold up if the value of taxable property drops. In that scenario, spending cuts would have to be even deeper, Swinson said. Still, Pasco is better off than many other districts, Fiorentino said. The growth helps because it does bring additional dollars, even if not enough to pay for itself. Also, in the fall the district had schools and department heads hold back 10 percent of their allocations in anticipation of cuts. A hiring freeze was placed on some positions. “It helped us save some money,” she said.

As a former state representative, Fiorentino said she understands the position legislators were in this year as they cut the state budget.

“They didn´t have much of a choice,” she said. “Unfortunately, education got a large hit.”

Employees Offer Suggestions

Several weeks ago, district officials began soliciting suggestions from employees on how to cut spending. Employees came up with proposals, such as putting a moratorium on textbook spending, using district office staff as substitute teachers and requiring employees to pay a small portion of their health coverage.

The school board already approved one cost-saving measure by putting most district employees on a four-day work week in July in an effort to lower energy costs.

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