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REDUCTIONS TO SALARY EXPENSES ANTICIPATED Superintendent of Schools Rudy Crew today indicated that the Miami-Dade school district is considering reductions to salary expenses as a way of dealing with a potential $15 million in additional funding cuts from the state. The new cuts are anticipated as part of more than a billion dollars of reductions Florida's Legislature will be dealing with in coming days. The school district began the current fiscal year with a balanced budget, but was soon faced with $32 million in funding cuts imposed by a special session of the Legislature last fall. Those funding cuts were met by the District through a series of belt-tightening measures and by increasing the amount of dollars coming to the District through competitive grants. Both strategies helped the District face the more dire financial picture without the potential for layoffs. During the course of the fiscal year, the District has faced increased costs in many areas, including food service, property insurance, health benefits and fuel. Funding for health care benefits for the first six months of 2008 amounted to $17 million, which had to be funded by cuts to other areas. The additional revenue reductions from Tallahassee now make the potential for layoffs a possibility. The administration is looking at where those possibilities exist. Superintendent Crew has firmly indicated he will not touch specific educational programs, including the arts. ### 08-JJS/259 |
