Lee County schools face cuts as state budget stalemate threatens funding

LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) — The School District of Lee County says it is building on its commitment to fiscal responsibility by aligning its resources to better invest in teachers and students, but the president of the Teachers' Association of Lee County says it doesn't sound that way.

"The biggest takeaway I have, from what I've heard about these tentative budgets, is cuts," said Kevin Daly, president of the Teachers' Association of Lee County. "I mean, assistant principal cuts, teacher cuts, union cuts."

The school district says this is all still a fluid situation. Superintendent Denise Carlin says the next step is ensuring the budget reflects enrollment realities, the unique needs of each school and its students, and the way the state funds public education.

The district is doing this by requiring each of its schools to organize their budgets to reflect current enrollment, prioritize classroom resources and reduce unnecessary spending. Daly says declining student enrollment is a factor.

"I think some of the factors pushing that are kind of declining student enrollment, not only here in Lee County, but also across the state," Daly said.

That's why Lee County residents might see a letter in their mail inviting them to choose Lee County Schools. The district gets funded per pupil, so the number of students directly corresponds to the amount of money it receives from the state.

"Since we get funded, kind of per pupil, the amount of students we tell the state we have, you know, directly corresponds to the amount of money we get," Daly said.

The problem is that the state legislature hasn't passed a budget. Daly says Tallahassee wrapped up its session about a month ago, and they have one constitutional obligation—to pass a budget—and they have failed to do that.

Without a state budget, school districts can't accurately do their budgets. This includes approving the collective bargaining agreement.

"Negotiations are ongoing, and we're sitting at the table ready and willing to talk about salary dollars," Daly said. "In order for us to negotiate raises, there has to be money given to the district to negotiate with."

The new fiscal year starts on July 1. Daly says if the Florida Legislature fails to pass a budget by then, the state will enter a partial government shutdown.