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Budget analysis projects deficit, deepened by security costs, for Pasco schools in coming year

 
Pasco County School Board District office.    ALICE HERDEN | Special to the Times
Pasco County School Board District office. ALICE HERDEN | Special to the Times
Published June 20, 2018

An early analysis of the Pasco County School District's 2018-2019 budget projects a deficit of more than a million dollars, with more than half of that coming from a shortfall in funding new school safety requirements.

Costs to hire and train 53 new school safety guards and a school safety director, and to supply them with uniforms and equipment, could cost $670,290 more than the $2.3 million provided by the state, according to estimates presented at Tuesday afternoon's school board workshop.

It was the first public glance at the coming year's budget, though a tentative budget is more than a month away and won't be finalized until September. The $670,000 combines with a projected deficit of more than $500,000 elsewhere in the budget, for a total projected deficit of $1,179,676.

Those projections point to a lack of funds for teacher raises. Though board members acknowledged the need to balance the budget, they talked down the idea of introducing a voter referendum for a tax raise in the near future.

Chief Finance Officer Olga Swinson emphasized that the numbers offered Tuesday are based on constantly changing information.

"They will change by the time the tentative budget comes to you on July 24," she said.

The budget seems to confirm superintendent Kurt Browning's prediction in March that 2018-2019 would be "an incredibly tight year," especially in the wake of new school safety requirements.

RELATED: School safety mandates might delay other budget priorities, Pasco County School Board members say

Those requirements come from S.B. 7026, signed into law in March in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

And though the $13.7 million in new funding exceeds the $12 million that Swinson predicted in March the district would receive, the budget still appears tight.

As the board discussed the lack of room to give teachers raises, Browning promised that no jobs would be cut.

"We're not cutting positions this year," he said. "Everybody, and I'll say it, ought to be thankful to have a job, based on the money we received from the state."

Both board members and those in the audience worried the financial situation, including the lack of raises, could drive good teachers out and snowball into a bigger financial problem for the district.

"People aren't going to stay in Pasco when they can go nearby and make significantly more money," Don Peace, president of the United School Employees of Pasco, said after the workshop.

Swinson also gave the board a list of options for voter referendums that could increase the district's revenue, but the board shot down those options, both because of costs and because of a lack of time until the general election.

Elsewhere, the budget includes new funding for mental health facilities, a category not expected to result in a deficit, and nearly $5.3 million in cost increases for charter schools.

Contact Jack Evans at jevans@tampabay.com. Follow @JackHEvans.