Hillsborough cutting budget with warmer classrooms, fewer administrators

TAMPA -- Hillsborough school officials are looking to bump up thermostats and reduce administrative spending in the face of statewide education budget cuts.

Schools and district offices will be asked to push indoor temperatures to 76 degrees, two degrees higher than many currently do. The move would save almost a half million dollars.

The cuts range widely. There's a pilot project to privatize lawn mowing services in one part of the county. That'll save $100,000.

The district expects to save millions through cuts to district level jobs. Superintendent MaryEllen Elia offered few details Thursday on the positions affected. She expected to save about $5 million from a mix of unfilled vacancies, retirements and reassignments. Some people will go to work in schools.

That's better than layoffs, which School Board members and the superintendent pledged to avoid this year. People whose positions disappear will have other opportunities in the district.

The district expects to save $3.6 million by deferring a major upgrade in payroll-related software. It is cutting another $1.7 million from pushing off the purchase of GPS technology for school buses. And $3 million in savings result from 20 percent cuts to district-level division budgets.

Stay turned to the Gradebook and read tomorrow's St. Petersburg Times for more.

Comments

Why run the airconditioners at all? When I was in school, we didn't have them. We could save millions in buying HVAC systems and hundreds of millions in utility costs. And, let them eat cake!

The districts will not be able to cover up the unwillingness of the Legislature to meet its responsibilities under the Constitution to provide for a high quality system of free public schools. I don't see the Legislature meeting in buildings that aren't airconditioned.

[teacher]

My school has no air half the day anyway. I keep the lights off and all the doors and windows open. It's unbearable. The children can't learn, and their complaining and our discomfort doesn't help the learning environment at all.

Maybe we should get rid of SpringBoard! That will save about 4 million dollars a year, plus the teacher trainings that go on all summer. That would save a ton of money too! Also, Elia made, with bonuses and raises, about 300,000 last year. Let's cut her salary by 50%. She would STILL make three times the highest paid teacher does.

Don't let people double dip next year. I bet I just proposed about 10 million in budget cuts. Delay purchasing new textbooks and materials in the next two years. That's another one...

[Fed Up Reading Teacher]

No air at all 4:28? Are you kidding? Do accountants work with no air? Do engineers work with no air? Do social workers work with no air? Do nurses work with no air? Why should teachers?? Oh, I forgot, teachers are just dumbies who couldn't succeed in the real world, so they deserve no air. Also, they deserve less than livable wages.... they can just camp out at the school so they can be availble to parents 24-7.

[Timmy!]

Too bad the "build energy efficient schools" guy wasn't more polished in his presentations to the Board. He seems to be more prophetic with every funding crisis.

Dear teacher,

Double dipping doesn't "cost" one extra dollar as the same salary must be paid to someone. In fact, teachers are the BIGGEST DOUBLE DIPPERS in the form of DROP and the 31 day rehire program.

If you want to cut about 5% out of a system where 85% of the spending is on salaries and benefits for employees and much of the remaining 15% is out of your control (gas prices, utilities, insurance, supplies, instructional materials), you can't do it without massively cutting people. Some districts will be able to cover up the shortfall with reserves, but this will only delay the recurring impacts until the next school year. The state is in big trouble, and the only fix is to elect better leaders for the state.

[Ms. O]

This district should rid itself of these know-it-all area directors. That in itself will save over $700k per year.