Taylor County Schools cut jobs

By TaMaryn Waters
Monday, June 23, 2008

There´s more money going out for payroll and services in the Taylor County School District, and its spending has put the district in the red for the past two years.

Now the district is classified by the Florida Department of Education as a “financial emergency district,” making it the only one in the state operating at a deficit. All school districts are required by law to have a balanced budget.

As a result, the state and the Florida Association of District School Superintendents have stepped in with help and recommendations for pulling the district out of its financial mess. The association´s report found the district was over-staffed and experiencing an enrollment drop rate of 6 percent over the past seven years.

Charged to teach nearly 3,390 students with a $21 million budget, Taylor County School Superintendent Oscar Howard said the district had to cut several positions, including 12 annual contract teachers, 28 aides and five food-service positions. The weight lifting and track and field programs also were cut and reductions were made in the number of bus routes and work hours for 50 workers.

“Anytime you lose personnel, it hurts the school system,” Howard said.

Some parents and residents are outraged to hear there´s been a deficit for two years in a row and the subsequent cuts in the budget as a result.

“I´m just very concerned about our children. Our administration should have taken care of this a long time ago,” said Selby Wood, who called the financial woes “ridiculous.”

School Board chairwoman Brenda Carlton and board members Darrell Whiddon, Danny Lundy and Kenneth Dennis were unavailable for comment. Board member Mark Southerland declined to comment and referred questions to the superintendent.

Vicki McManus, the district´s finance director, said part of the problem is that the “financial condition of the district was deteriorating and the communication was not what it should have been.”

“We have to find new ways to do things,” said McManus, who began working in October and replaced the former finance director Bill Hunter. “We can´t afford the staffing levels we had before.”

The district had a $1 million deficit last year. Some residents say they are disappointed.

“It´s a wonderful place to live and raise a family,” said Linda Wicker, a Realtor and restaurant owner who lives in Steinhatchee. “It´s frustrating, as a taxpayer, to know we are a little late on our change. And now it´s coming to light.”

Wood, 32, said Steinhatchee is the kind of place where everyone knows everybody. She said many parents were upset when talks earlier this year of closing the K-8 Steinhatchee School, which is where her 9-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter go to school, surfaced.

But the school will remain open, despite the superintendent association´s recommendations to close it because of low enrollment.

Bill Montford, chief-executive officer for the association, said the district has the choice to follow or not follow the recommendations. As long as it gets back in good standing, he said that´s all that matters.

“The people of Perry need to see this for what it is. It´s a serious financial situation,” Montford said. “This didn´t happen overnight.”

The report said, “The Taylor County School District must take strong measures to recover from its strong pattern of economic decline.”

Montford said his team of financial analysts saw immediate changes that needed to be made, including the practice of not charging residents for the use of its facilities and reducing staff and bus routes that catered to children living within two miles of a school. The law requires districts to pick up children living two or more miles from a school.

If the district doesn´t bounce back to a balanced budget by the end of the school year, the state may take more control of the financial management of the district.

Montford said he´s confident the district will be in better shape.

“Taylor County will be carefully monitoring itself,” Montford said. “They don´t want to misstep at all.”