Schools

Pasco School Layoffs Will Be Announced Next Week

The district is cutting 513 positions.

Pasco County school employees won’t have to wait much longer to find out if their positions will remain as the district wrestles to cover an anticipated $65 million deficit.

According to school district spokeswoman Summer Romagnoli, employees who are being cut will be told next Thursday, May 19, after the school board meets again May 17 to finalize the proposed budget cuts.

The Pasco County School Board held a meeting this morning that laid the budget numbers on the table. The district is anticipating a deficit of $65 million, which includes the loss of federal stimulus dollars, state funding cuts and an anticipated increase in fixed cost expenses.

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District officials are anticipating adjustments to the district’s contributions to retirement will reduce that $65 million by about $10.9 million, bringing the total anticipated shortfall to $54.4 million.

All of this adds up to a need to take several measures to cover that gap. The district plans to use its federal Edujobs grant balance of $11.4 million to help save positions this year. It also intends to use about $10 million in capital funding to cover property insurance costs. This brings the balance to $32 million that still needs to be covered, according to the district's presentation.

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A total of 513 positions will be cut to cover about $27.8 million of the shortfall. The cuts will come from all departments, with 458 being school level positions. Employees who remain will also face furlough days. Those on 12-month contracts will have four furlough days and all others three. This will save the district an additional $5.9 million.

Employees stand to see a 4.53 percent reduction in their take home pay for next school year. Three percent comes from the legislative decision to have employees contribute to their retirement. The other 1.53 percent is the impact of furlough days, district officials said.

While the measures will close the budget gap, school district officials were not happy at the loss of jobs.

“You can’t make these types of cuts and think that everything is going to run as smoothly as it has,” said Superintendent Heather Fiorentino. “This wave we’re on is more like a tsunami.

The school board meets again May 17 at 6 p.m. for its regular meeting.


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