Leon County School Board to review Pons´ budget cuts

By TaMaryn Waters
Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Leon County School Board members will decide tonight whether they´re going to offer a head nod or a halt sign to $12 million in budget cuts proposed by School Superintendent Jackie Pons.

The board will hear what Pons refers to as his final recommendations for reaching the $12 million cut-down for the 2008-2009 school year. He said the board meeting will be an important one. Even though the board is not officially voting on whether to approve the 15 items until later in the year, Pons said, the meeting will help decide what should or shouldn´t be on the chopping block.

Come next year, principals could be running their schools with fewer people and district-funded reading coaches will be gone in Pons´ recommendations. Also, closing the Academy of Academics and Technology and reducing the number of teachers at the Ghazvini Learning Center are on the list.

Pons said board members have told him that everything on the list brings value to Leon County Schools, which is an A district.

“I think they are very concerned about the situation we are in regarding the funding of education,” Pons said.

During the last meeting, board members were emotional over the burden the budget constraints will place on the district.

School Board Member Joy Bowen said she´s looking forward to this meeting, but she´s not looking forward to the cuts that have to be made.

She said, “I feel comfortable about the decisions we are making with the dollars that we have.”