Snip, snip: Ideas pour in to trim Pinellas school budget

How would you cut the Pinellas school system budget to address a $43-million shortfall?

By the end of the week, suggestions were pouring into the School Board office from district employees and members of the public:

• Instead of cutting pay by 2 percent and more, as proposed last week by superintendent Clayton Wilcox, make employees pay higher health insurance premiums.

• Go to a four-day school week to save on fuel and energy costs.

• Hold off on buying textbooks and computers.

• Reduce the district's busing obligations to families not in a "close to home" school.

• Offer any employee a year off for any reason.

School Board members are listening and trying to come up with their own ideas as they brace for a budget debate that could last weeks.

The problem is that 85 percent of the budget goes to salaries and benefits. If the district cut the power at every school and bought no new supplies for a year, it still wouldn't fill the hole in the 2008-09 budget.

"Everything we do has to touch people," Wilcox said, referring to the cutting process. "There's no way around that."

Because of turnover, the district thinks it can find jobs for many employees whose positions are being eliminated.

Officials also are thinking about the next two to four years, which look to be just as grim.

A worsening economy and the property tax reforms approved by voters in January have reduced tax collections and created a crisis in many Florida districts. But Pinellas is hurting more because it is also losing students.

In the past five years, declining enrollment has reduced Pinellas' annual state revenue by $40-million. Officials say the system must shrink itself to match conditions.

Proposed strategies Below is a detailed look at how, as of Friday, school officials proposed to cut the budget.
Reduce pay for about 14,000 employees by 2 percent	$11-million
Return 104 "resource" and "special assignment" teachers to classrooms, reducing the need to fill teacher vacancies	$5,405,920
Assorted reassignments and job cuts in more than 40 departments affecting about 90 employees, including clerks, secretaries, supervisors	$4,361,747
Cancel contract with private company that operates Oak Park School in Pinellas Park	$4,263,257
Reduce work day from 8 hours to 7.5 hours for 1,982 employees, mostly maintenance workers, bus drivers and school police officers. Translates to a wage cut of between 3.1 and 6.25 percent	$4,111,833
Close three schools: Largo Central and South Ward elementaries and Riviera Middle	$2,968,536
Cancel planned expansion of school nurse program	$2,500,000
Reduce number of middle and high school assistant principals. Many will return to teaching. (Eliminates 27 jobs)	$1,892,920
Close Norwood and North Pinellas secondary schools. Move them to Oak Park School, consolidating "alternative" programs for kids with behavior and academic problems. (Eliminates 29 jobs)	$1,386,893
Middle and high schools no longer have assigned maintenance workers. District creates two "maintenance tech response teams" to respond regionally to problems. (Eliminates 30 jobs)	$1,369,381
Realign staff that handles disabled or "exceptional" students. (Assigns 28 staffers to other jobs; eliminates 18 jobs)	$931,000
Cancel contracts with social welfare agencies for "intervention" programs that provide counseling and academic support to reduce suspensions	$806,114
Eliminate "Kaplan Planner," an online aid to help teachers plan lessons	$800,000
District declines to rehire employees who in past years were allowed to keep working after retiring under a special state program	$620,676
Eliminate two Family Education and Information Centers, where families signed up for schools under the old choice plan. (Eliminates 10 jobs)	$430,932
Reduce staff in Research and Accountability office, responsible for tracking academic data and evaluating programs. (Eliminates five jobs)	$363,551
Reduce clerical staff in curriculum department. (Eliminates 10 jobs)	$330,000
Reduce staff in Office of Professional Standards, which investigates complaints against teachers and other employees. (Eliminates three jobs)	$275,573
Reduce staff at district television station. (Eliminates three jobs)	$114,687
Total	$43.9-million

Comments on this article

by denny	May 9, 2008 5:31 PM
if we cut our local school what about colleges and the salary the head hauncho gets and the state grants them money and they charge large fees to go to them as far as cutting asst prin. from schools thats when principals and other peep do more work

by kelley	May 9, 2008 5:30 PM
keep kids closer to home which will eliminate buses being used so much. Each school should only have 1 asst. principals between the principals and asst.they should handle the school.quit buying agenda books for schools notebooks do work for that(10x?

by ???	May 8, 2008 8:18 AM
We are cutting an assistant principal from every high school and middle school to save a lousy $1.8 million? The county will be sued for a lot more than that when families sue the board because their child was bullied and nothing was done about it.

by Stacey	May 7, 2008 5:53 PM
I am certainly not thinking of a resume when I volunteer. I have a home based business, I am my own boss. I choose to spend time at the school because I care about making a difference.

by Mary	May 7, 2008 3:15 PM
Hey Stacey... you could do the Volunteer Coordinator's job... for FREE. Another bunch of 'volunteer hours' for your resume !

by Stacey	May 6, 2008 1:29 PM
... no volunteer coordintor = no one to recruit volunteers, or to do the paperwork for background checks. I have 300+ vol. hours this year. HOW MANY HOURS HAVE YOU VOLUNTEERED THIS YEAR?

by Staccey	May 6, 2008 9:18 AM
Before suggesting to cut a position, spend a day in their shoes. My daughter's school has 700+ students and there were twelve thousand (12,000+) volunteer hours last year. If there was no voluneer coordinator there would be n

by To save $3 Million	May 6, 2008 9:13 AM
Adding to Joy's comment; students may fill their 8 opportunity days with 3 teacher-created electives, none of which need certification to teach. Your child could spend 2-3 periods a day in fluff classes which they cannot choose. L

by Major Concern	May 5, 2008 8:56 PM
Why do cuts always start with those that make the least?? Bus Drivers are Very under rated,WE are the ones that transport,Care for, and Protect our,YOUR Kids. And this is the Thankes we get, Cut our Pay and Hours. Start at the TOP this time .

by Joy	May 5, 2008 8:55 PM
Absent from this list is the District plan to save $3mill by giving middle school students and teachers 2 more classes. Teachers lose planning time & gain about 50 students. Parents should know this. This will NOT provide highest student achievem

by Student	May 5, 2008 3:01 PM
i think you shold ask the students becuse were getting taught

by Mary	May 5, 2008 2:57 PM
Reduce/eliminate Middle School extracurricular sports. The Middle School sports program is not meant to be a pre-requisite or preparation to High School sports programs, so it should not be a necesary element of the School Board financial burd

by Ignored one	May 5, 2008 2:57 PM
Reduce the central administration further. ELiminate the associate and superintendent level employees. Huge salaries- no real connection to kids. Look for yourself!

by looking for fairness	May 5, 2008 2:31 PM
I also think the teachers who are PAST their DROP program should need to retire... even the dozen who were granted another year within the last couple months. Their 'agreement' for one more year should be rescinded. These people are too

by regular ed teacher	May 5, 2008 2:30 PM
ESE teachers should be put back into the classrooms. Having them float around most of the day 'helping' regular teachers is not financially responsible. And their paperwork is not heavier or more important than that of regular teachers.

by searching for ideas	May 5, 2008 2:30 PM
Eliminate 'feel good' positions like volunteer coordinator. Bookkeepers already keep track of people who are eligible to work around students, and Raptor scrutinizes other community members who want to come onto the campus. Consolidate t

by Paul	May 5, 2008 2:15 PM
The problem with the budget is only the 2%. So oversee all new contracts for the current year for purchasing.

by Mary	May 5, 2008 2:07 PM
Cancel the 1 mil contract for the blackberries all administrators, supervisors and principals carry, go back to using the phone or email. Cancel the Skills USA contests for local schools as well as out of county,food costs,transportation, hotel cost

by Mike	May 5, 2008 2:00 PM
I hope the board takes into consideration 2 family members working in the system this could put people out in the streets. We may see a school board Tent city.

by Carly	May 5, 2008 1:23 PM
Are these the extra happy people, mostly women...Who come out to our schools duing pro-ed day to do a workshop to enhance our curric. Return 104 "resource" and "special assignment" teachers to classrooms, reducing the need to

by James	May 5, 2008 1:22 PM
I am looking at these strategies and can clearly figure out what some of the programs/jobs are.I can also see some fluff jobs/pograms that folks should start shaking.With negative in schools why take aways programs that help negative behaviors?

by john	May 4, 2008 12:06 PM
The reason for these cuts is incompetence-from the gov down. I offered these fools an opportunity to fix the problems, but they refused. Vote them all out. The only interest to these politicos is their own hip pocket. Greedy morons.

by David	May 4, 2008 12:03 PM
Why should teachers always be the ones who have salaries cut? I think the best and fairest way to reduce expenses is that ALL state employees and elected officials, especially the governor and legislators, also take pay cuts.

by Linda	May 4, 2008 12:01 PM
Eliminate all Board Travel allowances. Eliminate all employee travel. Eliminate all field trips. Play all sports in daylight, eliminating the use of expensive field lighting. Eliminate all middle school sports and the supplements that go with.

by Marty S.	May 4, 2008 11:48 AM
Why not cut the 14,000 employees 6.25% instead of 2% and cut the 2,000 employees 2% instead of the 6.25%? Oh wait, I know why that won't work. Because the people crunching the numbers are part of the 14,000 group.

by Leo	May 4, 2008 11:46 AM
How sad it is for me to see this. I left Florida last year and moved to Maryland (both my wife and I are teachers). We have a lot of teacher friends in Florida who are worried about the future. There is one solution: recall Amendment One.

by Tired in Pinellas	May 4, 2008 11:46 AM
For those teachers who have to shoulder the entire health insurance premium for their families having an increase will be worse than a pay cut. I can't afford to leave and can't afford to stay in Pinellas.

by Jay	May 4, 2008 11:43 AM
I LOVE the idea of those in DROP actually being held accountable to retire. That was it's purpose in the first place.