A third round of cuts may be needed to accommodate pay raises, the superintendent says.
By MELANIE AVE
Published August 5, 2003
TAMPA - After the Hillsborough school district cut millions of dollars from its budget and axed hundreds of positions, you'd think the news couldn't get any worse for the upcoming school year.
Guess again.
Superintendent Earl Lennard painted a dim picture Monday for the district's 12,000 teachers and 8,700 bus drivers, secretaries and cafeteria workers as part of his annual back-to-school news conference.
With a new school year beginning Wednesday, a third round of budget cuts may be on the horizon if employees are to receive pay raises.
Lennard tried his best to focus on the positive with reporters, even lifting his soon-to-be-kindergartener grandson Riley Shields into his arms and swigging a Pepsi to highlight the district's $50-million beverage contract with the soft drink giant.
But when reporters started asking about cuts, lost positions and employee raises, the mood changed.
"There is a chance there may not be any raises this year," Lennard said flatly. "There are no dollars."
District officials are negotiating contracts and potential raises with the teachers union and the Hillsborough School Employees Federation, which represents bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers.
The teachers union and the district held their first negotiation session Monday, leaving union executive director Yvonne Lyons depressed.
"I think we're all looking at a very difficult year ahead," Lyons said.
Both unions knew times were tough when they sat down at the bargaining table.
Earlier this year, the School Board faced a $32-million deficit and agreed to chop between 200 and 250 kindergarten aides, psychologists, assistant principals, counselors, media specialists and magnet school teachers. To find even more dollars, the board boosted the size of PE, music and art classes and converted its middle school afterschool program to a pay service.
To give employees even incremental raises, Lennard said the district would have to make further reductions to programs and positions.
"It has to come, once again, from within the system," Lennard said.
Lennard said he would know more within 30 to 60 days, based on the negotiations. But Lyons believes the bargaining will take a while.
"I don't expect to come to an agreement very quickly," she said. "I certainly recognize the situation they're in financially, but we've got to look at additional ways of generating dollars."
Last year, teachers received pay raises of about 3 percent on average, or about $1,000. The district's blue collar workers received average raises of about 2 percent.
Despite the doom and gloom, Lennard said one way to improve education is to improve teacher salaries.
He vowed to make Hillsborough teacher salaries the best in Florida.
The average salary for a Hillsborough teacher with a bachelor's degree is $35,866, compared to the state average of $37,335.
During his press conference, Lennard also emphasized the opening of new schools; the plan to reduce class sizes due to a state mandate; and the beginning of the school selection process this fall through the new controlled choice student assignment plan, which begins next year.
Lennard ended Monday's news conference by thanking teachers, including various schools' teachers of the year who were in attendance.
"Teachers, thank you for what you have done," he said. "Thank you for what you do each and every day. I know the excitement will be there Wednesday."
