TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A new school year means a new budget with some big changes for Leon County Schools.
Families and taxpayers got a chance to see and speak about the proposed budget during a public hearing at Tuesday night's school board meeting. The budget's general fund, which mostly pays for staffing and classroom expenses, is going from $297 million last year to $305 million this year.
Some changes, like more money for supplies and employee raises, are going over well. However, emotions are running high over a change for district employees who help out at local community centers.
Florida's hotly-contested House Bill 7069 sets a lot of new education rules, including how district's funding must be spent.
"The title 1 funding that is to be directed into the title 1 schools helps fund some of the staffing at the community center," said Alva Striplin, Leon County School Board Vice Chair. "The money has not declined, we're still receiving the same amount of funding. However, the state has put controls on an 8% only administrative fee. So instead of the district being able to provide staffing for the community centers, that funding is now going to be rerouted to the school."
Despite the new path this funding must go, Striplin says the district plans to find a workaround.
"They're going to find a way to be creative about how we can still reroute that money into those community centers and possibly revamp what's going on in those community centers," said Striplin.
This issue aside, parents and school employees definitely have reason to be happy about this budget.Bus drivers, food service workers, school bookkeepers, and para-professionals are all slated to get raises. The budget even includes a 20% raise for substitute teachers, something district officials say hasn't happened in more than a decade.
If this proposed budget passes, schools will also get $250,000 extra to buy supplies. Superintendent Rocky Hanna says the money will go to the principals, who will allocate it their teachers based on the number of students in their class.
"Parents are no longer having to pay for copy paper, dry erase markers, tissues," said Hanna. "A lot of these things that we're asking [for] should be part of a free and public education, and that's on our dime, not on our parent's backs."
District officials say this new budget does include an increase in state funding, but that's offset by a decrease in local tax dollars, so no significant changes in overall revenue.
The final budget hearing will be held on September 5th at 6:00 p.m. at the Howell Center.
Other notes from Tuesday night's meeting:
LCS supports Broward in state legislature lawsuit but will not pursue, too expensive.
LCS will not institute a ‘no homework policy’ similar to Marion’s any time soon.
