Lee County School District officials are eliminating more than 100 jobs for staff working with special needs students as a result of federal sequestration cuts. School districts throughout the region are making tough budgeting decisions due to impending reductions in federal funds.
At the end of the current term, Lee schools plan to cut 105 teaching and paraprofessional positions for staff working with students with disabilities. The positions have been funded through federal grant money stemming from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
“We don’t know the exact amount of the possible sequestration,” said Donny Hopper, the district’s director of Exceptional Student Education. “The actual dollar amount or percent has not been given to us officially, so the district has used 13% as their ‘magic number’ so to speak, to give us an idea of where we believe we need to be regarding the budget deficit for next year.”
Hopper said some specialists losing their positions may have opportunities to work elsewhere in the district and that a few of the jobs are currently held by teachers who planned to retire anyway. He said students and parents shouldn’t feel much impact from the cuts.
“We have over 100 schools in the district, and not to downplay the among of people we’re affecting, but when you spread it out across the district, some schools will have no impact, some schools will have a minimal impact,” said Hopper. “It could be as few as one or two people in their building being affected by this.”
Just north in Charlotte County, school district spokesman Mike Riley said officials anticipate about a $400,000 loss in federal grant funding for special needs education. “What will happen here is we will receive less grant dollars for programs for children with disabilities, but there is no plan currently to lay anyone off,” said Riley. “We’ll just redistribute the grant and figure out how to make it work, but we don’t have a plan like that at all.”
In Collier County, school district officials said in a statement this week that they’re still reviewing the impact of sequestration cuts and coming up with a budget plan. “For those positions impacted due to sequestration, it is anticipated that the majority of people will be absorbed into open positions due to retirement, resignation, or relocation,” reads the district’s official statement.
Meanwhile, school districts throughout Florida are also considering potential cuts to Title One funding due to the sequester, but again, exact dollar amounts are not yet known.
“The federal funds, I’ve heard they could weigh back and forth on the sequestration issue into October-November of this year,” said Hopper. “That would be very challenging if our legislators take it that far.”
Hopper said if the cuts turn out to be less than anticipated, they may end up eliminating fewer positions.
