The extra 1 mill in the Manatee school budget: Without it, students, teachers will suffer
Voters don’t like it when politicians change their mind, so I am at risk of being accused of such by writing this column. But as the old saying goes, “You don’t know what you don’t know,” and learning new information should cause us to take a fresh look at old ideas.
That’s what happened to me after I was elected to the school board. During my campaign, I kept asking the same question many of my friends and colleagues are asking today: “The school board has a massive budget. Why can’t they find enough money to pay teachers in the regular budget?”
Yet, there I was, 11 months later, still preferring to pay teachers out of our recurring budget but acknowledging that it would do damage to our community if the referendum renewal did not pass on Nov. 2. The evolution of my thinking is a lesson in learning “under the iceberg,” as they say, and finding out, “it’s complicated.”
I spent my career as a certified public accountant and volunteered on the school district’s Citizens Audit Committee for seven years, so I considered myself reasonably equipped to tackle school district finances. The ah-ha moment for me came during two days of in-depth training for new school board members. We dove deep into the very complex Florida Education Funding Program (FEFP). I had never seen anything like it.
Just to simplify it, this year’s $1 billion budget is divided into large chunks, most of which cannot be used for teacher salaries. Let’s start with capital funds for building, repairing, and renovating our structures, Then there’s meals and transportation for our students, and pre-K for young children. We have to pay for debt service, just like home mortgages, along with $126 million in restricted categories within the general fund. Even more frustrating are the state-required mandates that are not fully funded.
What’s left is about $400 million that the district uses for all operations. From that, it uses $347 million for employee salary and benefits. The remainder pays for necessities such as utilities, classroom and custodial supplies, property insurance and contracted services. Therefore, there is no doubt in my mind that without the 1 mill we would be unable to make teacher salaries competitive, keep the 30 extra minutes of instruction and expand career and technical programs.
Referendum dollars are clearly earmarked for those things — that’s exactly how they have been spent so far — and all the money collected stays right here in Manatee County under our control.
I completely agree with those who argue that compensation should be paid from the core budget, and I promise to work hard to make that happen over time. But it is not possible to replace more than $40 million all at once.
If the referendum fails, teachers will lose more than $5,000 a year and other valuable employees like bus drivers and cafeteria workers, will take pay cuts. We will lose the extra 30 minutes in addition to science, technology, mathematics, and career education programs, and we won’t be able to expand the arts.
It will also put us at a competitive disadvantage to Sarasota and Pinellas counties, which have enjoyed the additional mill for their schools since 2002 and 2004, respectively.
I have not changed my opinion that the district should pay all compensation from the operating funds, but my understanding of the intricacy of school district finance has. I will not tell people how to vote. But I believe we should agree on the facts, and the fact is, without community support, students and teachers will suffer.
Mary K. Foreman is a member of the Manatee County School Board.