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The board will discuss cuts in January, but the bigger issue could be the 2002-2003 school budget.
By BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 13, 2001
INVERNESS -- When the smoke cleared after the recent budget-cutting legislative session in Tallahassee, Citrus school officials learned they will lose $2.8-million in state funds.
Finance Director Sam Hurst assured the School Board late Tuesday that the district should be able to weather this financial storm, but he was less optimistic about the 2002-03 budget year.
Beyond the shifting of some salaries from the general fund to other funds not affected by the cuts, district officials have said little about what might get cut to absorb the monetary losses. Board members are anxious to hear those details.
The board set a meeting with superintendent David Hickey on Jan. 22 where he is expected to discuss a plan for what to cut and where to save. Board Chairwoman Pat Deutschman said, "I'd expect us to be a part of the development of that plan."
Board member Patience Nave said she wanted to give her ideas about the cuts so that the board didn't have to have a detailed conversation about every expense that came up each meeting. "I feel really strongly that we need to give Mr. Hickey some guidelines," she said.
But other board members noted that Hickey has already started to work on a plan and they should just wait until January to give him their suggestions.
"I'd rather see the plan and have him respond to our questions," said board member Carol Snyder. "I'd rather have a starting point."
Not all of the money that the district will lose comes from the state's latest budget cutting. The district is losing 2.46 percent of its general fund, a cut that amounts to $1.87-million.
Other money will also be lost because of additional holdbacks of state dollars from last year and this year and the arrival of fewer new students than expected this year. The student count issue will be largely absorbed by a $700,000 contingency fund.
"We are working on a plan to address this issue," Hurst said. "We'll bring the options back to you."
Hurst said he is especially worried about the next budget year since the state is expecting to start discussions of its next statewide budget with a $1.6-billion shortfall. "Our real work is going to start in February and March when we start to talk about how to pay for next year," Hurst said.
Hickey said there are several reasons why other districts have been hit harder by the cuts. He cited health insurance cost increases of as much as 55 percent in some places while Citrus costs grew at a much smaller amount.
Another reason for Citrus County's good financial position is that the district has not settled employee contracts this year. Negotiations with the teachers and other unions were suspended several months ago and workers continue to be paid according to last year's contracts.
Hickey also cited the millions of dollars the district held in reserve, something other school districts have not done.
Despite their concerns over the financial picture, the board approved creating three new positions, two of which will be paid for by dollars not impacted by the cuts. The third position was a switchboard operator for the district office, a job that has been done by high school students in work study programs for the last several years.
But even with that position paid for from the general fund, administrators assured the board they gathered the dollars from unfilled positions and the approved positions would only be good until the end of the fiscal year in June.