by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals outlined an initial anticipated budget shortfall Monday of $75 million to $89 million to $97 million.
The shortfall depended on which revenue cuts held sway in Tallahassee by the Senate, the House or Gov. Rick Scott.
However, he told 80 members of the Meninak Club of Jacksonville that the shortfall is “closer to $50 to $60 million now” as the Legislature, which convened almost a month ago, continues its work.
Nonetheless, he said, it’s the “largest shortfall in 35 years” and represents 6 to 7 percent of the district’s budget.
The Legislature began its 60-day session March 8. The state is grappling with a $3.75 billion budget gap.
“This is a challenge,” said Pratt-Dannals. “The most dangerous time in Florida is the two months the Legislature meets.”
He said that a 6-7 percent school system budget reduction “would be dire.” The potential cuts to the $1 billion budget have led to suggestions that the public school system move to a four-day school week, cut extracurricular activities that include athletics, and cut transportation.
“It’s not whether or not these things are important,” said Pratt-Dannals.
Duval Public Schools consist of 172 schools, 123,500 students and more than 14,000 employees.
Pratt-Dannals said the school system has asked for help from the Legislature, including a $12 million relief from the penalty for not meeting the class-size amendment as well as allowing the Duval County School Board to enact a .25-mill tax increase by a super majority vote rather than a voter referendum.
To close the school system’s budget gap, Pratt-Dannals provided information from a document titled “Legislative Requests for Flexibility.”
It said that Duval County Public Schools identified more than $185 million of unfunded and underfunded legislative mandates or budget reductions for which the district is requesting relief. It listed several mandates “from which the district is requesting flexibility.”
“As an example, these requests would allow the district to continue to fund art, music and P.E. and athletics,” it said.
The total savings or revenue for all the legislative action would be more than $50 million, it said.
“We have taken on tough challenges before,” said Pratt-Dannals. He asks Duval County corporate leaders to be advocates for the school system.
“Advocacy at the state level is hugely important,” he said.
Pratt-Dannals also outlined achievements in the district.
He said the system carries a “B” grade in the state and he said that all of Duval County’s public high schools offer at least one of four higher-level academic programs “to hold onto their students.”
Those are the International Baccalaureate, Advance Placement Honors, Early College and AICE (Advanced International Certificate of Education) programs.
Pratt-Dannals also asked for more mentors for students. He said the goal was to have 20,000 mentors in Jacksonville by 2020, and the schools now have 5,000.
Pratt-Dannals said the public schools are the second-largest employer in Jacksonville after the U.S. Navy.
Pratt-Dannals joined the system in 1976 as a math teacher and coach.
Pratt-Dannals is hosting three community meetings to discuss the financial situation. The first was last night. The second will be Thursday at Andrew Jackson High School, 3816 N. Main St., and the third will be Monday at Ed White High School at 1700 Old Middleburg Road. They start at 6 p.m.
356-2466
‘Legislative Requests for Flexibility’
The Duval County Public Schools system is facing a possible shortfall for the 2011-12 school year of $75 million to $97 million. The school system identified more than $185 million of unfunded and underfunded legislative mandates or budget reductions for which the district is requesting relief. The district also is requesting flexibility from several of the mandates. The district said the requests would allow it to con-tinue to fund art, music and P.E. and athletics.
| Mandates and budget cuts | Current or proposed status | Requested flexibility from Legislature | Savings/revenue to DCPS with flexibility from Legislature |
| Class size | Penalty for noncompliance | No penalty or minimum penalty | $12 million savings |
| Textbooks | Full implementation | Partial implementation | $4 million savings |
| Opportunity Scholarship Transportation | Must offer students access to C school or better | Eliminate required transportation | $1.3 million savings |
| Student Success Act | Implement all teacher quality measures | Fully fund all increased costs associated with the legislation | Depending on newly negotiated salary schedule, evaluation system, etc. |
| Florida School Recognition Funds | Schools receive additional funding for improving a letter grade or maintains a grade of A | Full flexibility for use of funds | $5.8 million savings |
| Cut Base Student Allocation and required local effort | Reduce Base Student Allocation and required local effort | Keep Base Student Allocation and required local effort | $10 million revenue |
| Critical needs millage | Voter referendum | School board super majority vote | $18 million revenue |
| Total for all legislative action | $51.1 million |