Pinellas schools bracing for much tighter budget next year

By Jeffrey S. Solochek

Pinellas County school district officials are more thankful than ever that voters approved a doubled local property tax referendum in November.

Without the added revenue, projected to generate $145 million in 2026, the district would be facing one of its worst financial pictures in years.

Projections for its $1.1 billion budget, introduced in a Tuesday workshop, are awash in negative numbers from state and federal sources, with per-student funding rising by slightly more than 1% — well below inflation — while student enrollment declines by about 3,000.

The district will see about $26 million more shifting over to vouchers for additional private- and home-schooling children, most of whom have not attended Pinellas public schools, according to district data.

“This is not the money following the student,” board chairperson Laura Hine said. “It’s clear the state budget negotiators did not address what the Legislative Budget Commission called out as the largest issue facing us.”

The local property tax base, which is expected to carry the increase in district income, is estimated to go up by less than 1% after several years of rapid gains.

“There isn’t going to be a lot of money to play with,” board member Eileen Long said.

The district’s total expected revenue would have declined by close to $14 million without the referendum money, which might have led to broad cuts as the costs of insurance, utilities and other expenses rise. Employee raises funded by the referendum would have been off the table, with teachers instead staring at $6,300 pay cuts, and arts and reading programs seeing their support decrease by millions.

As things stand, the district has eliminated hundreds of positions, reassigning displaced workers to different jobs whenever possible, superintendent Kevin Hendrick said. But thanks to the referendum, he said, the district has only 20 advertised teacher vacancies, compared to about 150 usually at this time of year.

Salaries and benefits make up close to 80% of most school districts’ spending.

Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association president Lee Bryant said he plans to negotiate items without additional financial impact, such as different leave of absence opportunities for employees who need them. It’s increasingly difficult to afford to live in Pinellas County, he said, so every bit helps.

“Our county looks like it’s in the worst shape of just about every county in the state,” Bryant said.

Several districts across Florida have said they expect to cut millions in spending in the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. Many face the same constraints as Pinellas, and are getting rid of jobs, recalculating class size figures and eliminating programs that rely on larger number of employees, such as block scheduling. Some are closing or merging schools, dipping into reserves and taking other actions to make ends meet.

The leaders of nearby Hillsborough and Pasco schools said they are not as anxious about their situation.

“Our hair is not on fire,” Pasco schools superintendent John Legg said.

District planners began preparing for a flat budget year back in March, he said. The school board reduced just under 400 positions from next year’s budget at its most recent meeting, including about $500,000 in administrative salaries.

The Pasco district’s biggest concern is its self-insured health benefits, which board chairperson Cynthia Armstrong recently reported was facing a multimillion-dollar shortfall. The district is negotiating its benefits package to eliminate any deficits.

In Hillsborough County, officials had yet to make much progress on their budget while waiting for state numbers.

Hillsborough Chief Financial Officer Jamie Lewis told board members last week that the district is keeping a close eye on its reserves as a backstop for any reductions in state funds.

He told the board they began the year with a fund balance of $283 million and project an end balance of about $266 million. Lewis said a high fund balance will help.

https://pineapplereport.com/pinellas-schools-bracing-for-much-tighter-budget-next-year/