To fix this superintendent-created problem, the district stated last week that he plans to “propose” funding in next year’s budget for 90 of the 110 teachers – who will be laid off at the end of May – by reallocating funds from the district’s general budget. District administrators may “propose” to shuffle money all day long, but it doesn’t change the fact that the district still is $5 million in the hole this year alone. To make matters worse, the district’s own hired demographers have just predicted no appreciable increase in property tax values, and expect no real decrease in area residential foreclosures for the next several years ahead, that might somehow boost the district’s tax revenues. So, from where is the extra $4.5 million to fund the 90 teachers going to come?
Proposing to rob money from important education programs next year to fund these teachers – when the money had already been frittered away in November on a miniscule retroactive pay raise averaging only $10 more per employee per week – highlights just how out-of-touch district administrators have become. One place from which Humble ISD administrators could raid money might be the district’s $58 million “rainy day” fund. But that account is also hemorrhaging – now $22 million below what the district’s 90-day general fund reserves should actually be.
It goes without say that a school district should be in the business of educating our kids. Somewhere along the way however, Dr. Sconzo seems to have forgotten this – as teachers account for only 2,500 of the district’s 4,720 total employees. Although the sacking of these 110 teachers would average to a loss of three teachers per campus next year, district administrators don’t need to sell more school bus advertising, or ask kids and parents to hold a bake sale to pay for text books, to save these teacher jobs.
Indeed, there’s a lot of fat which can be cut in Humble ISD’s budget to fund more teachers, and maybe even pay down some accumulating debt. But don’t take my word for it – see for yourself.
Courtesy of a special Open Records request from the district – and perhaps readily-available to the public for the first time ever – I have posted Humble ISD’s entire 2011-2012 line-item budget, current as of April 19: http://goo.gl/juQ9H (case sensitive).
Download or read the district’s entire $250 million 413-page line-item budget online, and judge for yourself if you think your tax dollars are being properly managed by Dr. Sconzo and the seven school board trustees – trustees who no longer face election this May after cancelling their own 2012 elections … voting to do so at the same November school board meeting at which they approved the $3.67 million district employee retroactive pay raise, and renewed the superintendent’s four-year $928,000 contract.
Bobby Petty
Kingwood resident