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Pasco Schools Must Trim About $16 Million In Spending

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By RONNIE BLAIR | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 7, 2008

Updated: 05/07/2008 07:16 pm

LAND O' LAKES - The Pasco County School District needs to trim spending by about $16 million to cover an anticipated shortfall in the 2008-09 budget, Superintendent Heather Fiorentino said this afternoon.

"We are going to make some severe cuts and try to live within them," Fiorentino said as she and her staff met in an information session with the media.

Fiorentino didn't say how she plans to slice the expenses from the budget, but she said she is working on a list of recommendations to present to the Pasco County School Board at a May 20 budget workshop.

The superintendent said her priorities are to avoid cuts that directly impact the classroom and to avoid layoffs if possible.

Ultimately, though, she said, "Nothing's off the table."

The district has known for weeks that significant cuts were coming, but today's announcement was the first time the district has put a firm dollar figure on the anticipated cuts.

Technically, Pasco is expected to get more money for its general fund this year, an increase of $2.7 million over last year's $466.6 million.

That increase doesn't represent a true picture of the district's financial situation, though, said Olga Swinson, the district's chief finance officer.

Part of the reason: The district is projected to grow by 1,387 students but the extra money isn't keeping up with the growth and other added expenses the district faces.

Without the growth, the district would be $10.2 million in the red, Swinson said. Also, the district anticipates $3.3 million in additional costs for choice programs as a new charter school opens and more students apply for McKay Scholarships, which allow some special education students to attend private schools using tax dollars.

Another factor is a $5.2 million increase in costs for categorical funding, which are programs in which the state dictates how the money is spent. Most of that increase is because of class-size reduction mandated by a state constitutional amendment.

In total, the district calculates expenses will increase $18.7 million while funding increases $2.7 million, leaving a $15.8 million shortfall.

"It's going to be a difficult year," Fiorentino said.

Reach reporter Ronnie Blair at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tamaptrib.com.

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