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Budget Cutbacks: Hiring Freeze In Escambia Schools
January 14, 2009
The Escambia County School District has issued a hiring and transfer freeze in the county’s schools effective immediately, the first in a series of expected cutbacks in the county’s school system.. That hiring freeze extends all the way to the classroom; open teaching positions will be filled with substitutes.
The hiring freeze includes both school and district office positions. The memo says that all positions which become vacant due to the resignation, retirement, promotion or leave of absence of a permanent employee will remain vacant unless otherwise approved by Superintendent Malcolm Thomas.
Thomas told NorthEscambia.com last week that a series of cutback announcements would begin this week due to state funding cuts by the state legislature. Those cuts are expected to amount to $14 million.
“It’s the bigger picture that’s got me worried,” Thomas said about the district’s decreased funding from the state. “I can’t say how the dominoes might fall. We could eventually be looking at layoffs across the district.”
Other school positions — specifically school secretary, data specialist, food service manager, head custodian, finance specialist and all direct student contract positions — may be filled with a temporary promotion or temporary contract employee. ESE (Exceptional Student Education) and positions at schools cited under a Florida Department of Education intervention program for schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress called the Differentiated Accountability program.
Thomas has also implemented a freeze on out-of-state travel, without regard to how the trip might be funded.
Read the hiring freeze memo here (pdf).
Comments
17 Responses to “Budget Cutbacks: Hiring Freeze In Escambia Schools”
Concerned Mom, Karen stated PERMANENT subs! In order for a sub to take a teaching position for an extended period of time and to actually teach the class, he or she must have a bachelor’s degree. No, you don’t have to have BA to sub on a DAILY basis! Please read the statements more carefully.
To Karen;
Maybe most subs have college degrees but I know quiet a few that have no college experience. I also know this because before I decided to stay home with my 5 year old I considered becoming a sub, I have only 1 year of college. I was fingerprinted, had a background check and went to the certification class and the next week I was getting calls to sub.
To “Concerned Mom”. Permanent subs have at least a bachelor’s degree. That is four years of college. They are educated.
In fact, most subs have a bachelor’s degree. Some have an Associate’s Degree, which is two years of college.
I am concerned for the fact that a substitute is to be placed as a permanent teacher for the time being. To become a substitute all you need is a background check and a certification class that last a half of a day. This is not the hands that I want to put my child’s education in. We need well educated people to educate our children, not someone who has took a certification course.
I would like to know WHY every time things get bad , We start blaming others and pointing fingers ? Human Nature I guess!
Ashley boy do you talk out of turn. You know nothing of Mr. Thomas or his actions to cut costs.
#1 He does NOT drive a state car. The county, nor state pay his car payment, his insurance, nor his gas bill.
#2 He has cut ALL unneccessary travel to include his own. His own travel which is necessary he is paying for out of pocket. He isn’t renting a nice fancy car like Superintendent’s before him or flying first class in luxury. He is driving his every day car that he drove long before the election put him in the path of your scrutiny. Every dime of his gas expenses, his lodging expenses, and his meal expenses are coming out of his own pocket.
So don’t sit there on your high horse and spew untruths about a man which you nothing of. He is bending over backwards to fix the problems that have been set into motion in this county. These are not new problems but ones that have been set into motion over many years before he took this office.
Mr. Thomas ALWAYS has the children of this county as his first and foremost priority. Let’s not forget that he does have grandchildren who do attend schools right along side your children. You can’t possibly think he would not want to give them the benefit of every advantage the Escambia county education system has to offer.
Perhaps before you put yourself out on a limb accusing people do some fact checking. It is a simple concept really.
Yes we are making comments without all of the facts, due to the simple fact that our gov. doesn’t give us all of the facts until it benefits them (exp. Century is not a B it is actually a D… whoops?!?) How dare our gov. let those children think that they are a B and then when they are getting the heat put on them for horrible decisions our gov. throws those kids under a bus. You don’t hand a child a report card with all A’s and then the next day say well actually that was not your grades you actually failed?!??! As far as this being the only solution… Let me know when Malcolm and his office starts to suffer a little due to budget cuts. We, as a people, are not seeing that. Our schools ARE CURRENTLY suffering. It is insane what the school district gives our teachers to work with as far as funding. It is crazy the lacking that schools have, yet Mr. Thomas is sitting pretty. I will start thinking that he is making a last-resort change concerning cms/carver, when I see that everything else has been cut to the bone. We are just the easiest target! What happen to closing schools in the South-end?!? He said that in his little speech to get elected? He did not get me vote then, and I am just praying for these next few years to pass as quickly and painlessly as they can so that I can NOT vote for him again.
Very well said and I too support Mr. Thomas and think he is not only going to be great for our district, schools, and students, but he is going to help us and guide us through these hard economic times!!!
It is so sad to read the factless opinions of several people who have commented…Please, review the facts THEN post your comments based on facts of how funds are actually spent and who is cleaning up the dirty work of past Superintendents. Mr. Thomas gives truth and all of the facts when sharing school district information. And yes, sometimes the turth hurts. He will clean up the funding shortfalls, give the man a chance…he just shortly took office.
Do you carpool to work?
More substitutes to continue budget decline and failed school policies for an educational institution!! BOLD MOVE—NOT! Take a look at Community Services Line Item in the budget, corporate welfare, annual leases without recouping actual value, giveaways in exchange for services, blackberries, cell phones, exorbitant trips at taxpayer expense. Does “carpool” appear in Garden Street or Hall Center vocabularies? The School Board must get busy looking at wasteful spending such as GPS systems and other frivolous expenses–funds spent annually for support of these systems are a joke! Stop the waste–what a novel idea! Such amenities could certainly save the Carver-Century K-8 School and hire educated teachers for our students education. As noted, teachers get the short end of the stick through Mr. Thomas–Mr. Paul’s agenda is alive and well. WILL THE STATE TAKE OVER THE ESCAMBIA COUNTY SCHOOLS DISTRICT AFTER THIS YEAR–WE FAILED TO MAKE ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS (AYP) FOUR YEARS iIN A ROW AND THE FIFTH YEAR SOON TO ARRIVE–ESCAMBIA COUNTY WAS PLACED ON NOTICE IN NOVEMBER 2007.
Boy, you people really do not know what is going on bashing Mr. Thomas and his decisions. For the past eight years, the district has the same policy on hiring freeze. This time it was told to the public. And for “subs” they MUST hold a BS degree or higher to be a “long term sub” and many of them do much better than some teachers my children has had in the past. I am 100% supportive of Mr. Thomas and his staff. No matter what all the people at the district have a contract unitl June 30th, so if you delete them, then you must pay them the same amount as the contract!!! You bashers need to get the facts before you start talking. I do not see any of you offering any suggestions to help!!!!!!!
Way to go! Use subs instead of teachers, nothing against subs, but they are not educated teachers. Now we have students learning what? Enjoy your one term Malcom.
I totally agree with Sammy!!!
Why don’t they start the cutback downtown on Garden Street. Have you been in there lately? It doesn’t take an Army to handle what goes on down there. Instead of firing these teachers that get in trouble at the school which they teach, they send them to the Hall Center to find them something to do, then before you know it you’ve got a house full getting paid to do NOTHING!
Mr. Thomas, while you are putting a strain on our children are you still driving your state appointed car?!? How about that cell phone? Who’s paying for that? Any “business” dinners lately? —- This guy is really getting under my skin right now!
This is not good. Typical business: Hiring freeze. Office supply cutback. Coffee switched to a cheaper brand. Layoffs. We need our teachers. Cut adminstrators. There are what, about a dozen assistant superintendents? You would not miss two or three of those.