Duval County School Board struggling to find cuts

The Duval County School board looked over more than 140 recommendations for cuts to their budget and of those only 74 were deemed feasible.

Of the 74 cuts that are possible, some of those didn't sit well with members of the board.  Some of those included cuts to art programs, athletics, and even field trips.  In regards to cuts in those fields, board member Betty Burney says, "Cutting the arts and physical education opens the door to students going to private schools." 

Board Chairman W.C. Gentry, after reviewing the recommendations, admitted those weren't enough.  Even if they accepted all of the 144 cuts that would only save them $30-million, their budget deficit is close to $100-million.

The chairman and other board members acknowledge they'll have to consider drastic measures for the upcoming budget year.  They're considering cutting the school week down to 4 days and adding an hour to each day.

Before some changes to state law the school board used to be required to complete 180 days in a school year, now they have to complete enough hours to match 180 days so that would allow them to make the change to 4 day school weeks.

They'll also look into furlough days for teachers, as many as 20.  Twenty furlough days would equal an estimated savings of $50-million according to the chairman.

Because the county is so strapped for cash, the chair says they're going to have to consider everything.  Duval is looking at a 5-6% budget cut, at least.

From today's meeting, they will look into how much they could save with 4 day school weeks, what's the minimum number of tests they can take some schools are taking up to a dozen tests that can cost as much as $65 per student.

They'll look into cutting transportation costs for magnet school students - last year that cost the district more than $50 million.

The board will also look to see how much they can save by completely eliminating athletics across all schools.

In closing to the budget workshop, the chairman says they might want to consider litigation.  Right now a major problem in the district, along with the underfunding for instructional hours is the fact that they have to comply with class size requirements.  They would be able to balance the budget with larger classes through consolidation and other methods but because they can't do so without being noncompliant they might join other pending lawsuits against the state.

The district is still working to submit a plan to the state on its four intervene schools. The last plan had been rejected earlier this month.