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Hernando Today

Board: Keep SROs, Crossing Guards And Swim Program

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By LINNEA BROWN

Hernando Today

Published: June 18, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - No matter what happens, Hernando County schools will not do away with their school resource officers, crossing guards or YMCA swim program for local kindergarteners.

Those were three of the programs board members decided to pull from a list of potential cost savings measures at an afternoon workshop Tuesday in the wake of looming budget cuts from the state, estimated at $3.1 million.

The board directed staff to add two previously-pulled items into the 2008-09 budget: $234,400 for high school SROs and $24,000 for transportation for the YMCA swim program, which provides free swimming lessons and transportation to local kindergarteners at elementary schools.

While never initially in the budget, the board also asked that staff add $70,000 for school crossing guards.

Those additions are worrisome, Superintendent Wayne Alexander said.

"I am living, eating and breathing budget saving (measures)," he said. "I'm hearing that you want to place these items on hold for now, but I'm concerned about the timeliness of this."

Both crossing guards and school resource officers have been historically funded by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, but are in danger of being eliminated due to budget cuts.
School resource officers investigate infractions on school property and present programs related to law enforcement or social problems for students, parents and the community, according to documents provided by the sheriff's office.

However, the board directed staff to obtain more information on the YMCA swim program, such as how many children participate each year from each school and how successful it is.

All three items could still be removed from a future working budget, but will remain until future direction from the board, finance director Deborah Bruggink said.

Though no other decisions were made, other potential cuts that drew heat included the elimination of the district's middle school sports program, which would save the district approximately $267,127.

"I cannot support doing away with the school sports programs between middle schools," board member Pat Fagan said. "We need to make decisions in the best interest of our students."

Last week, Gov. Charlie Crist told all state agencies to slash an additional 4 percent from their budgets. Traditionally, state requests to cut budgets have been followed by requests to school districts to cut about half of that, meaning that Hernando schools may be asked to cut an additional 2 percent from its budget.

That's expected to total $3.1 million, following a $2 million revenue shortfall that has caused major revamping of the budget's expenses.

"There are a number of things we're going to have to address in coming months, and agree or not, it's going to be challenging for us as a board," Fagan said.

As part of the plan, the district aims to save $2.14 million by cutting 54 teaching positions and 28 instructional aids, but no one will lose their jobs, officials said.

The positions include teachers allocated for the district's new gifted education center being moved to general education teaching positions, and numerous vacant positions remaining unfilled. About 13 teachers with tenure are being switched to open positions at other schools.

The next school board discussion of the budget will occur July 29, which is also the first public hearing.

Also at the workshop:

By closing district schools and buildings on Fridays for six weeks this summer and moving to a four-day work week with extended hours - 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday - the district will save an estimated $79,000.

But by failing to bring the decision before an official school board vote, Superintendent Wayne Alexander did not go about it the right way, board members said Tuesday.

"Things that have a budget impact should be brought before the board," Vice-chairman Jim Malcolm said. "I want to make sure the superintendent clearly understands that anytime he's (proposing) doing business differently or doing something that has a budget impact, we discuss it first."

Fagan initially said he'd like to see someone answering phones on Fridays, though he relented once the suggestion was made to having a "professional sounding" phone message informing parents of the extended hours on the other four days.

"Communication is everything, and having our parents (informed) is important," he said.

Alexander pointed toward past summers, when staff also worked four-day weeks. The only difference was that they could choose which day to take off, and district buildings were not closed, he said.

Board members also said they would have liked to know about other tentative budget cuts, such as the funding cuts to elementary science fairs.

"I agree that we need to discuss these things," board member Diane Bonfield said. "I'm thankful and grateful for the cost-savings, but I agree that it needs to come to us first."

Alexander defended his decisions, and said nothing is final.

"This anxiety, which is getting higher and higher every day, led our staff to jump to conclusions about what's going to be cut and not cut," he said. "Just because we've put it in (writing), doesn't mean its (done)."

"I have to communicate with press," he added. "But this is a fluid document, and it never stops."

Alexander also said he consulted school board members individually on the four-day week, and assumed that since he had their approval, he could take action.

"That was my error," he said. "I celebrated the $79,000-plus savings, and that was my mistake."

The board officially agreed to continue with the district's four-day work week for the rest of the summer.

Reporter Linnea Brown can be reached at 352-544-5289 or lbrown@hernandotoday.com.

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