Hillsborough County Schools will avoid a state takeover of its finances through the state’s agreement to provide a lump sum payment of $101 million in federal relief dollars.
Hillsborough Schools Superintendent Addison Davis and School Board Chair Lynn Gray held a joint news conference to announce the news and to talk about how the school district goes forward from here.
Davis said the release of the Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) II funds, coupled with district cost control strategies, create an opportunity to move forward on solid financial footing.
He said the lump sum payment will allow the district to transfer some of its COVID-19 expenses — to free up some of its general fund dollars.
It also has allowed the district to meet the state’s fund balance requirement to avoid a financial takeover by the state — a prospect that has loomed large in recent months.
“This year has caused a lot of angst,” Davis said, noting that feeling of unease has been pervasive throughout the district at all levels, and within the community.
The district’s dire financial prospects prompted massive cuts.
“We started out around 1,600 positions that we thought we were going to have to cut in the spring. But after working with our school leaders, looking at master schedules, we drilled that all of the way down to around 715 positions that we had to cut,” Davis said.
While the district is trimming a sizable number of positions, the vast majority of employees will be retained — through attrition, retirement or transfers to new assignments.
As of last week, there were still 95 individuals who had not been placed, but the district continues to look for potential opportunities, Davis said.
“I do believe that the 95 number will potentially go away,” he said.
Besides reducing positions, Davis said the district has taken other cost-cutting measures.
For instance, it has sought ways to leverage federal funds, reduced overtime and renegotiated contracts, he said. Through its steps, it has recouped $55 million since January.
The district needs to make sure it has systemic reviews looking forward and uses organizational controls to ensure it doesn’t face the same financial problems in the future, the superintendent said.
Board Chair Gray put it this way: “Now, with the ESSER II dollars, we can stabilize our fund balance. We want to assure our community that the district is taking swift action to solve this financial emergency.
“Our goal is to be transparent throughout the entire process, with all of our stakeholders.
“To this end, we will be forming a financial advisory committee,” she said.
Davis said he and his staff and cabinet will take furlough days, but said district administrators — unlike previously planned — will not be furloughed this year or next.
While reducing expenses, the district also needs to boost revenue, Davis said.
To that end, it intends to ramp up its marketing — particularly of the district’s magnet programs — to entice more students to take advantage of the district’s offerings.
Increased support is essential, too, he said.
“We have to continue to galvanize as a community to push our local legislators, and also legislators throughout the state. We’ve got to continue to ask for additional funding in education,” Davis said.
Published May 19, 2021
