We know that local governments have struggled these past two years as property taxes have fallen and other revenues have declined. Salaries have been frozen, programs cut and every department has been hit. The City of Pensacola and Escambia County have worked to keep their general fund reserves at reasonable levels. In 2010, Escambia County used $432,961 of its reserves to balance the General Fund. Last year, the City of Pensacola increased its General Fund by $40,571.
The Escambia County School District is the exception. In two years, the district has increased its General Fund by $29.25 million dollars (77%) to a whopping $66.89 million. This was done despite its revenues have decreased by $13.67 million.
How can this be? Every year the School District’s budget and Superintendent Malcolm Thomas’ budget message tell the citizens that the district will have to dip into reserves to make ends meet —$11.3 million budgeted in 2010 and $14.8 million in 2011. Parents have been told that the District had to cut programs. Schools have been closed. If non-profits and teachers wanted to run after-school tutoring sessions, then they had to raise money to cover the transportation. Superintendent Thomas tells parents that he can’t afford to let children play on the playgrounds at the closed schools.
So how can a School District increase its General Fund to the level that would be enough to run the City of Pensacola for a year and a half? Answer: By cutting services far below the budget and not making adjustments the following year.
Here is where the School District saved over the past two years, according to its Comprehensive Accounting Financial Reports:
| Instruction | Â 35,150,803 |
| Pupil Personnel Services | Â 1,179,128 |
| Instructional Media Services | Â 382,672 |
| Instruction and Curriculum Dev. | Â 453,762 |
| Instructional Staff Training Services | Â 1,024,221 |
| Instruction Related Technology | Â 160,256 |
| Board of Education | Â 852,526 |
| General Administration | Â 69,714 |
| School Administration | Â 276,618 |
| Facility Services | Â 878,351 |
| Fiscal Services | Â 526,280 |
| Food Services | Â 4,972 |
| Central Services | Â 2,260,320 |
| Pupil Transportation Services | Â 1,546,105 |
| Operation of Plant | Â 2,433,025 |
| Maintenance of Plant | Â 6,228,649 |
| Administrative Technology Services | Â 378,766 |
| Community Services | Â 470,570 |
| Fixed Capital Outlay: | |
| Facilities Acquisition and Construction | Â 176,633 |
| Other Capital Outlay | Â 1,004,791 |
| Principal | Â 9,001 |
| Total | Â 55,467,163 |
We have a public school system that is struggling with the FCAT, graduation rates and proficiency in reading, math and science, and the School District is cutting its instruction expenses by $35 million?
Conservatives might celebrate the District’s frugality, but here is the problem:
What other government entity would continually over budget an item and not make corrections the following year?
If the City of Pensacola had a department that failed to spend its budget (by let’s say $10 million) every year, don’t you think the Pensacola City Council would say the budget needs to be reallocated or maybe they would give the citizens a tax cut? The Escambia County Commission would do the same.
I put as much blame on the School District Administration as I do Superintendent Thomas and the school board. All bureaucracies can find money when they need it and they know how to hoard funds. The District Administration has been in place for nearly 12 years. Few were replaced when Thomas took office. They have not given the public a true budget with accurate amounts for years—and nearly doubling their reserves and under serving the students in the process.
As we saw with the City of Pensacola, too much in-breeding and lack of oversight leads to arrogance and lack of responsiveness to the public. The School District bureaucrats see themselves as untouchable and definitely aren’t being challenged by the school board.
Really? The school board sees the financial reports every year and it hasn’t questioned why the district’s budget and the actual expenses are off by $55 million? And they don’t adjust the next year’s budget?
It looks like Bob Kerrigan’s Tax Watch group was watching the wrong government agency.
—
Note: You can find the financial reports on the District’s website – http://old.escambia.k12.fl.us/adminoff/finance/fin%20info.html