GAINESVILLE - There is no tax increase budgeted for the Gainesville School Board's proposed Fiscal Year 2013 spending plan, which was revealed Tuesday during public hearings in the Media Center at Gainesville High School.
The school board has the final say June 18 on a tax hike to support the $51.3-million budget but Superintendent Dr. Merrianne Dyer said she's using the current millage.
There are challenges; falling property values, state funding cuts, more students to educate, and rising employee benefit costs.
"Unfortunately with more children and providing more services the earnings from the state are less due to continued austerity reductions," Dr. Dyer said. "We're trying to craft a budget that considers all phases and all options of how we can continue to provide the services for the children."
The budget hearings were held at 3:00 p.m. for employees and 4:00 p.m. for the public, but no one attended the public meeting as in years past when board members were struggling with a multi-million dollar deficit. The board reviewed the budget during its regular meeting.
Those challenges make up a laundry list: Austerity Reductions, or cuts from the state, are $4.7 million dollars. The decrease in the tax digest and loss of local tax is $1.5 million. Increases in the employer portion of health insurance for classified staff; which includes bus drivers, school nutrition, maintenance and operations, clerical, and paraprofessionals is $452,000. Increases in the employer portion of health care insurance for certified staff, which includes teachers and certified administrators, is $192,000. Employers contribution to the Teacher Retirement Systems will increase by $300,000.
Enrollment has increased from 6,216 students in 2008 to 7,352 students.
After hearing from stakeholders and board discussions, Dr. Dyer recommended maintaining salary increases for years of service and advanced degrees, maintaining the local supplement and reducing the work force by 22 positions.
Those include three central office administration positions; two school-level administration positions, 3.5 high school teaching positions, 3.5 middle school teaching positions, and 12 elementary teacher positions.
Dyer said attrition, non-renewals, elimination of 49 percent of employees at the elementary level and central office and transferring two school-level administrators to teaching positions are how those jobs would be reduced. Also, the system plans to cut the work schedule for all employees by eight to ten days.
"We're continuing to do more with more kids with less people and less funding," Dr. Dyer added. "For reductions in positions for a school system our size that's very lean, and as I shared in the meeting with employees we still have concerns at the middle school on class sizes. We may have to make adjustments and add teachers or shift based upon our enrollment in September."
Furlough days were also discussed as a means for money saving and while eight and 10 were numbers thrown around, no set number of furlough days were put in place. The subject will be revisited at the June 4 school board meeting.
System Finance Director Janet Allison said falling property values and state funding cuts are the most troubling revenue negatives in the FY13 budget.
"Property values continue to fall," Allison said. "We're expecting another $1.5-million less for 2013. State funding cuts continue to exceed $4 million. Since 2008 and including the FY13 budget we have earned $21 million that we have not received
Thursday
October 17th, 2024
3:21AM
