It should come as no surprise that the economic outlook for Florida is gloomy. So how does that affect our public schools? In two words: decreased funding. Polk County School District receives the majority of our operating funds from state revenues. When revenues are down, so is the funding source to educate our students.
The 2008-09 operating budget for Polk County Schools reflects more than a $42 million decrease in funding from the start of last year. Some of the financial loss has been offset by increases in local property taxes as determined by state legislators. How did we compensate for shortfalls in our budget? Here are a few examples: 1) not filling 190 open non-instructional, non-teaching positions; 2) eliminating a contingency fund; 3) reducing departmental operating budgets; 4) eliminating capital equipment budgets; and, 5) curtailing travel, including no longer subsidizing school field trips. These are short term solutions that will work for a brief time, but we cannot sustain these gaps without unfavorably affecting the support system that serves our students. That being said, forecasts project that the State could further reduce our budget by another $13 million over the course of this school year.
I am proud that we are consistently ranked among the best school districts in Florida for channeling dollars directly to the classroom and for having one of the lowest administrative cost plus, non-classroom, overhead expenses. Our district is also ranked among the best in the state for having the lowest energy costs and most efficient transportation system. Further cuts will cause us to be even more frugal. I ask for the community's understanding and support in the wake of these difficult economic times. Florida ranks 50th in the nation for providing funds to public education. We must work together to push our State leaders to identify a consistent source of adequate funding for school districts. Our children deserve our best efforts in delivering a quality education.
Gail F. McKinzie, Ph.D. Superintendent