The Lee County School District announced a hiring freeze for all central

office personnel positions Wednesday afternoon due to the expected $52 million

budget shortfall from the state for the next fiscal year.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Larry Tihen said they are researching how many

vacancies there currently are for the central office personnel positions and

reviewing them to see if someone else can fill the responsibilities who is

already in the district. Tihen said they certainly do not want to fill a

position with someone and then turn around and say we have to lay that person

off.

“We will be looking at all vacant positions at least until we know of the

actual numbers of our budget,” Tihen said. “It is a matter of reassigning

responsibilities,” because those positions are “essential to the district.”

Tihen provided an e-mail correspondence to all the principals and department

directors, so he could communicate to the employees what steps have to be

taken due to the projected budget shortfall.

“The FY12 budget cycle is now in full gear, and I want to make sure I

communicate clearly throughout the process so everyone is informed of our

progress and challenges,” Tihen expressed in the email.

The state is projecting a $3-$5 billion shortfall as a whole for the next

fiscal year. Tihen said they recognize that the governor’s budget is the first

part of the information, adding that the “potential for a very large budget

cut is there.”

“The governor released his budget early this week – a budget that gives our

school district a $52 million loss to contend with for the next year (FY12),”

Tihen wrote in the email. “The governor’s budget is, of course, only the first

draft of what our budget could be, the legislature must do its work before our

final budget is actually determined.”

He went on to explain in the email that they are expecting to have lower

property taxes, which means less revenue, no replacement of stimulus funds,

along with some percentage of employee contribution to the retirement fund.

The district will face many challenges if the expected shortfall in revenue

holds true for the next fiscal year. Some of those challenges include

reinstating art and music into elementary schools and planning periods in

middle schools. The shortfall will also affect addressing salary increases to

offset retiring contribution as well as preserving enough reserves to protect

the district from additional cuts during the 2012-2013 school year.

“I will continue to take a long term view of the budget as we strategize,”

Tihen said in the email.

He explained that a major priority of his is to limit the amount of reductions

in staff.

“This freeze does not affect school positions yet, but I ask principals to

please be thoughtful about filling vacant positions,” Tihen emphasized in the

email.