Fix $100M Hole Or Hillsborough Schools Will Be Taken Over: State

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY — The clock is ticking on a 20-day countdown for the Hillsborough County School District to come up with a plan to resolve its $100 million budget shortfall or the state will step in and take control of the country's seventh-largest school district.

That was the ultimatum Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran conveyed in a letter to the school district Thursday, prompting the school board to call an emergency meeting Friday morning to discuss ways to prevent the state's takeover of the school system.

"The district’s lack of attention to this issue since 2015 has already created a disruption with your workforce, and your lack of comprehensive and timely action at present threatens the basic delivery of education services to Hillsborough’s students," wrote Corcoran.

While Corcoran's message was worrisome, school board members said the letter's content wasn't surprising. The school board has been aware since December that the district's debt has been growing since 2015.

"It's a gut punch, but to say this is surprising would be unfair," school board member Jessica Vaughn said.

Superintendent Proposes Massive Cuts

With the prospect of the school district falling into state receivership, a legal contingency that occurs when the Department of Education determines a school district is no longer capable of balancing its budget, Superintendent Addison Davis announced a plan last month to lay off 1,600 teachers and administrators.

He revised the number to 1,000 layoffs after school principals protested the elimination of essential positions. Davis then looked for other ways to save money, ultimately cutting $10 million in school supplies and reducing his administrative cabinet to save another $1 million.

The majority of those 1,000 teachers and assistant principals received their pink slips April 9.

Teachers and parents were outraged when they learned about the layoffs and the methods used to notify the teachers who lost their jobs, including sending text messages and emails rather than informing them in person.

Last week they launched a petition drive demanding Davis' resignation. As of Friday, the petition has been signed by 4,365 people.

See related story: Parents Demand Hillsborough Schools Head Resign Over 1K Job Cuts

While laying off teachers and vice principals may be necessary, Vaughn said the cuts were an affront to school employees who risked their health and possibly their lives to return to school last August.

"I tried to give you feedback about the anxiety and frustration in the schools," she told Davis. "The success of opening up schools was made possible through the work of our staff and teachers, who put themselves on the front line, not knowing if they were going to catch the virus. The employees are the heart and soul of our schools, but they feel they're not supported, that we're devaluing them. It’s hard to be popular when you have to downsize but there’s a way to do it with compassion."

Board Member Suggest Discipline For Superintendent

She proposed placing Davis on a professional development plan.

"The community is crying out for stability," she said. "I need to see that your leadership is good for this district, but I just don't see this in a lot of decisions that are being made."

Since Davis was appointed superintendent a year ago, school board member Karen Perez said he's made some questionable decisions including giving a $48,000 raise to five people in his cabinet who followed Davis to Hillsborough County from his former administration as superintendent of Clay County schools.

"That’s a lot of money for this district that is in a financial crisis," Perez said. "I really need answers for that."

School board chairwoman Lynn Gray concurred that putting the superintendent on a performance review plan would hold him accountable.

"If students don’t have a report card, what does that mean?" she asked. "I think we need as a board something more definitive. I don’t mean to be putting anyone in front of the bus, but again I see it as an opportunity for growth. The board expects the highest measure from its superintendent."

School board member Melissa Snively said Davis should be commended for some of the actions he's taken during one of the toughest years the school district has faced due to the coronavirus pandemic. That work included providing 45,000 digital devices to students so they could participate in online classes, ensuring that disadvantaged students had access to WiFi and giving out more than 10 million breakfasts and lunches to students while schools were closed.

"You have done a great job," she said. "But there is a lot of frustration. Are you perfect? No. Could you be better? Yes. Having 25,000 employees and 225,000 students is a big challenge but you have to work on building trust and relationships with your principals and you need to be more empathetic to your employees."

"The administrators and principals haven't had a break," Vaughn said. "There's always a mandatory meeting or email with more mandates that take away from their ability to do what they need to for their schools. We have a lot of amazing assistant principals and teachers who have worked hard and, through no fault of their own, get these letters (notifying them that they're being laid off) and they don't understand. The board has been adamant that we want to see more cuts from the top."

When four more school staff members were unexpectedly laid off Friday after being told there would be no more layoffs, Davis admitted the staff cuts could have been handled better.

"What happened last Friday should never have happened to any employee," he said. "We should always treat people with respect and dignity."

Nevertheless, he asked the board not to lose sight of the accomplishments since he was appointed superintendent on March 22, 2020.

Actions Taken To Weather Pandemic

Shortly after assuming his duties as superintendent, the district had to close its 240 public schools, 147 of which are in economically disadvantaged areas and 39 that are persistently low-performing.

When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis then ordered counties to reopen brick-and-mortar schools in August but also offer parents the option of online education at home, he had to let 1,100 teachers go because there wasn't enough money for both in-school and online teachers.

"Cutting 1,100 positions was majorly disruptive," he said.

Additionally, the district had to reconfigure classrooms and cafeterias to accommodate coronavirus protocols, order personal protection equipment and sanitizer, and retrofit the schools with filtration systems to reduce the spread of the virus.

Then, when the school year began, the district was unable to find 7,600 students and had to send out 135 social workers to knock on doors to determine if these children were simply no longer attending school or if they were enrolled in private schools.

"Many students didn't have the hardware for online learning and our 28,000 laptops weren't enough so we had to order 45,000 more laptops," he said.

"We overcame many, many hurdles," he said at the end of his litany of accomplishments.

Snively wasn't impressed.

"I think most people tuned you out halfway through that speech," she said. "I think people just wanted you to apologize and say you’ll do better."

Concern As State Takeover Threat Looms

School board member Henry "Shake" Washington reminded the board that, while it's important to hold the superintendent accountable, the school district is facing a more pressing matter — how to address Corcoran's 20-day deadline to come up with a plan to get the school district out of debt.

The district had been counting on making up its shortfall using two rounds of Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding from the federal government totaling $585 million however, the state has refused to release the money to the school districts. Texas is the only other state in which CARE funds have not been released to the school districts.

"We dipped into the general fund for computers and PPP with the intention to repay with the general fund with the CARE money," Perez said. "Now we’re being told to come up with a financial plan that doesn't include those funds, which is problematic to me."

School board member Nadia Combs suggested the school board form an oversight auditing committee made up of members of the community that have financial and budgeting experience to advise the school board. Each board member could appoint one community representative to serve on the oversight committee.

In addition, she suggested the school board meet weekly for a finance meeting to hear the committee's suggestions and develop a plan to submit to the Department of Education.

School board attorney Jim Porter said his legal team is still looking into the details of what will occur if receivership of the school district is handed over to the state.

According to state statutes, he said a financial emergency board would be appointed by the Department of Education, which would have jurisdiction over the school district's budget, purchases and bookkeeping.

"I believe this has happened in Jefferson County, but there's no precedent in Hillsborough County," he said.

The board agreed to hold a special meeting May 4 to create a first draft of a plan to send to the Department of Education.