Budget Information
From Superintendent Dennis L. Thompson, Ed.D

Updated 3-25-08

We are in a local, state and national crisis because of the economic downturn.  For decades, Florida’s economy was largely dependent upon construction and a growing population.  Both have slowed dramatically, especially in Collier County, where construction – one of the three major legs of our economy – has nearly come to a stand-still.  It isn’t just the revenue from construction, but the associated jobs.  People are leaving the state to find work.  They leave, and we lose students and funding.  The result of all of this: Florida’s sales tax revenue is consistently falling short of state forecasts, and corporate tax revenue is also taking a hit.  Additionally, the class-size reduction amendment has cost the state about $29 billion since 2002.  The list of 28 factors which influence student achievement ranks class-size 21st.  Therefore, the $29 billion has been spent on a part of education that historically shows little correlation to student achievement. 

Florida’s budget has been cut by more than $1 billion this year, and reductions that will cut twice as deep, totaling more than $2 billion, are anticipated next year.  Education will not be held “harmless” as you may have heard.  To meet required school district budget reductions by cutting costs results in tough decisions that some disagree with, but cuts must be made.

We recently endured our final budget cut for this year, an additional $4 million.  To put the difficulty in perspective, this was the first time in history that the legislature met a second time in a given fiscal year to further reduce the budget.  We were able to meet this latest cut by largely doing away with all of our contingency reserves.  Furthermore, I asked the School Board to approve pulling $750,000 from our strategic reserves.  To be frank, this is of great concern for next year because of the limited options that remain for reductions.  We could use up a sizable portion of our reserves.  Unfortunately, we are even more concerned about the years to follow: 2009 and 2010.  We could face an economy in a continuing downturn without reserves for unforeseen circumstances.  That is a very dangerous place to be.

Informational Links:

• Fiscal Year 2008-09 Budget Workshop: Preliminary Estimates - New Revenue & New Expenses
• Central Administration Budget Reductions
• Superintendent's Consolidated Plan
• Establishment & Maintenance of Fund Balance
• 2008 Legislative Priorities