By B.C. Manion
The Pasco County School Board has approved a staffing plan that calls for cutting 125 positions as the district grapples with a $25 million shortfall.
Board members reluctantly went along with Superintendent Heather Fiorentino’s request for action on her plan, which includes 8,042 staffers, so the district can move ahead with payroll calculations as it works out its budget for next year.
However, board members made it plain that they may revise the action they took pending more information during budget talks this summer.
Olga Swinson, the district’s chief finance officer, assured the board the superintendent’s recommended cuts are not yet finished.
“We are not done,” Swinson said. “We will continue to look at positions. This is not all of the allocations that we will submit.”
Fiorentino also assured board members they will have the opportunity to make changes before a final budget is adopted. With a $25 million deficit, the superintendent said, “everything is up in the air.”
Summer Romagnoli, district spokeswoman, said it was important to take action so the district could notify affected employees before schools dismissed for summer.
While positions are being cut, that doesn’t translate into people being laid off because the district is shuffling employees to take on different roles. Other posts will be vacated because of retirements and resignations.
At the same time it is trimming positions, the district is adding 107 teachers in order for the district to meet the state’s mandatory class-size requirements.
Lynne Webb, president of United School Employees of Pasco, voiced her objections to the superintendent’s staffing plan.
“I do not feel these allocations go far enough,” Webb said.
During a budget workshop following the board meeting, Webb also objected to a proposal to cut four couriers from the district’s payroll. These employees transport mail and other documents within the school system. The district may outsource those duties.
Webb said she opposes outsourcing those services, noting the couriers have worked well, and they are transporting sensitive materials.
Board member Allen Altman also inquired about a plan to cut “paraprofessionals” who help in special education programs. They provide important services to teachers and students, Altman said.
The board was assured by Melissa Musselwhite, who oversees exceptional student education, that those cut positions were carefully selected to ensure classroom safety was preserved.
The budget cuts will also result in fewer elective choices for middle and high school students, said Tina Tiede, an assistant superintendent. As the district moves to meet the class-size requirements, it is shifting teachers into covering core curriculum courses, reducing the number of specialized courses it can offer.
Altman also noted that he’s begun receiving calls from literacy coaches who are concerned about potential cutbacks.
Twelve of the district’s 24 literacy coaches were eliminated, Romagnoli said. She added that those remaining will be shared between schools.
At the workshop following the meeting, board member Steve Luikart recommended cutting the number of transportation specialists from 22 to eight, which would be comparable to other counties and would yield about $750,000 in savings, he said.
Luikart also thinks the district should add five or six students to all bus routes that are not at 80 percent capacity. He estimates that would take between 40 and 60 school buses off the road, which could save up to $3.6 million.
