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Hernando Today

School Board Faces Chainsaw Massacre

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 22, 2009

The Issue: Cutting $25 million from this year's school budget. Our Opinion: Tough decisions, strong leadership needed.

Forget the knives and scalpels, Hernando County School Board members are going to need chainsaws to cut an estimated $25 million more from this year's budget - and it's going to be painful.

Board members were supposed to consider an agonizing list of options formulated by Superintendent Wayne Alexander during an emergency budget workshop last Tuesday. Alexander got the flu and the meeting had to be postponed until noon Monday, Feb. 23.

That will only amplify the dire need to slash programs, cut staff and teaching positions, freeze and cut salaries, chop transportation, increase class sizes and more.

There are no sacred cows; everything is on the proverbial chopping block.

And that's after school board members already made $19.5 million in cuts during the past 18 months without cutting jobs.

Still, this may just be the beginning.

After board members cut $25 million more out of this year's budget, they may be faced with the daunting task of finding another 15 percent in cuts for the 2009-10 budget year.

Talk about pouring salt into the wound.

If all of Alexander's "options" were chosen, school board members could knock $31 million off this year's budget, in the process losing 225 staff positions mostly by attrition or eliminating vacant posts. That leaves some wiggle room for what cuts school board members can dodge, but not much.

From nixing magnet-themed programs and cutting bus transportation, to pay cuts, salary freezes and eliminating staff, school board members have some very hard-hitting decisions to make.

We're talking about people's jobs and children's educations. Whatever tough decisions school board members make, a lot of parents, educators and staffers aren't going to be happy.
School board members have little choice: The taxpayer gravy train has left the station and it's not coming back anytime soon, especially in this distressed economy.

The overall goal, Alexander states, is: "To preserve positions and the sanctity of the classroom." That should be the school board's mantra.

Still, that seems a lofty goal if $25 million has to go.

It's going to be an even tougher accomplishment if teaching positions are cut, others not filled and class sizes expanded. We'll see if that's a $7.3 million pill school board members are willing to swallow.
School board members can expect to hear from a lot of angry parents and educators trying to protect turf and programs. They need to listen and at the same time keep their focus on the goal: "To preserve positions and the sanctity of the classroom."

These are austere times, calling for difficult decisions and strong leadership. What once may have been thought of as customary entitlements for public education may soon be considered unaffordable luxuries - like riding a bus to school instead of walking or having parents drive children. A lot of parents have already expressed dismay and anger that school bus rides might get the ax.

It could get a lot uglier.

In looking at all of Alexander's options and overall goal, transportation could well be the first to go. Parents and guardians are simply going to have to be responsible for getting their children to school instead of counting on the taxpayers.

If there is fat in our school district's budget - and there always is - it's likely to disappear soon in this troubled economy. Nearly $20 million has already been cut and teachers are still teaching and students are still learning. That's the top priority.
School board members may also want to consider a cut that didn't make Alexander's list: a four-day school week. That could save the school district a fortune, but further anger working parents, who would be saddled with added daycare costs.

As long as this economic crisis persists, public schools may only be able to afford to provide the basics of educating our youngsters. If educators do a good job at that, these tough economic times may not turn out to be so bad for education after all. When pinching pennies, dollars are spent more wisely and the natural selection of excess is eliminated.

However, it can't be done at the expense of this generation's education. The decisions school board members make in the coming weeks to reduce spending will matter exponentially down the road.
School board members need to keep that foremost in their minds.

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