Parents Demand Hillsborough Schools Head Resign Over 1K Job Cuts

TAMPA, FL — Holding up protest signs along the Kennedy Boulevard median in front of the Hillsborough County School District Administration Building, teachers didn't soft-pedal their fury over the district's plans to eliminate 1,000 positions.

Following the protest, school staff members crowded into the administration building for a chance to tell school board members in person what they think of Superintendent Addison Davis' planned budget cuts to make up a $140 million budget shortfall for the coming year.

Hired in January 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic pummeled the Florida economy, Davis said he inherited a school system that was already mired in debt.

"Addison Davis didn't create this financial problem, but I'm here trying to find solutions to this process," Davis said. "I protected teachers in the first half of cuts and employees, other than 40, and I will do my best once again to try to protect everyone in this organization as much and as long as I can."

Nevertheless, balancing the budget could mean eliminating the jobs of some teachers, assistant principals and staff.

Davis said jobs aren't being technically eliminated. Instead, school staff will be reassigned to other schools to fill unmet needs or placed in a pool. Davis said he worked with school principals to find areas that are overstaffed for reductions.

“Being able to protect our teachers and our support staff by putting them in pools, it helps us to be able to potentially save them within our organization,” said Davis.

Davis said staff members who will be relocated to other schools or placed in a pool (a list of furloughed teachers who are available to rehire if a teaching position opens up) have now been notified.

“I understand it’s difficult,” Davis said. “And as a superintendent coming in, one of the last things we want to do is cut positions at our schools, but unfortunately our backs are against the wall.”

Davis said this realignment of school staff will save the district an estimated $80 million; a large portion of the savings will come from deferring new hires. He said the school district normally hires 1,100 to 1,200 new staff members a year.

In announcing the budget cuts earlier this month, Davis promised parents he would not cut school programs, especially music and arts programs, which are usually the first to go.

“We will never remove a program,” Davis said. “We will always have art, music and PE in every one of our elementary schools.”

He also vowed this would be the last round of staffing cuts.

Speaking at Tuesday's school board meeting, teachers and parents said the administration is underestimating next year's enrollment, which was down this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. They said many homeschooled children are expected to return to brick-and-mortar schools in August.

Ellen Lyons, the south county representative for the Hillsborough County Council of PTAs-PTSAs, said the cuts are premature because there's a possibility the school district will receive $260 million from a third round of federal coronavirus relief funds.

"Cutting these positions is shortsighted," said Lyons. "Putting a pause on these position cuts is probably wise."

Parents and teachers asked the school board to form a citizens advisory committee to provide input into the budget, similar to one that was formed in the Miami-Dade County School District.

"We deserve transparency from the schools, so we know where every dollar is allocated," said parent Jessica DuBois. "We have got to get our house in order here in this boardroom. Cutting teachers is a last resort. We need a second set of eyes before drastic cuts are put in place."

"We want a citizens advisory council established to solely oversee and audit the budget, and hold Addison Davis accountable," said parent Paula Castano, a former teacher who now works as an FBI analyst.

On Tuesday, parents also launched an online petition demanding that Davis resign, citing mismanagement of school funds, including Davis' approval of an expenditure of $3.7 million to purchase learning materials from Achieve3000, a company in which his brother serves as vice president.

They also said Davis spent $5.2 million to expand the use of i-Ready, a software program that replaces face-to-face instruction and has never been assessed for its effectiveness.

Although Davis said the cuts will include administrative staff at the district headquarters, parents said Davis is shielding top staff members earning the most income, some of whom are his personal friends.

Davis's annual salary is $310,000 and the average salary of school administrators is $80,076, 21 percent above the national average. The starting salary for Hillsborough County public school teachers is about $31,477 and the average salary is around $47,500.

A former Green Beret, Curtis Hubbard said he decided to go into teaching after retiring from the military. His teaching position was eliminated shortly after he was hired by Hillsborough County Schools, but then he was rehired to teach at a disadvantaged school in the county where he has 36 in-class students and 16 online students. Now that position is on the chopping block, as well.

"I learned that the minority kids at many of these schools need more attention than students at more affluent schools, so I'm worried about a cookie-cutter solution to cuts," Hubbard said.

Steve Armstrong introduced himself as the "soon-to-be former chorus director at Alonso High School."

A 19-year award-winning choral teacher with two master's degrees, Armstrong said he was hired earlier this year to launch high school and middle school music programs. He started out the year with 40 students and the program quickly expanded to 150 students.

He brought one of his choruses with him to the school board meeting, so members could witness their talent. That chorus, he noted, has 30 members, five less than the school district's mandated 35 students. Therefore, the chorus class is being disbanded and Armstrong is losing his job.

"You're just going to throw it away," he said, referring to the chorus. "Take away their opportunity because there aren't five more kids. You will see your mistake when the once-thriving music department in this county is destroyed."

An immigrant to the United States, Isabella Maxwell has been teaching the children of migrant farmworkers at Ruskin Elementary School for 16 years, spending her own money to provide them with school supplies their parents can't afford.

"On Thursday, April 8, I was home when I received a text message from my principal telling me I was being sent to a pool," said Maxwell, breaking into tears. "It is cruel to be informed of a life-changing event in such a way."

See related story: New Hillsborough Schools Superintendent Makes It Official