Budget Reduction Recommendations

Budget Reduction Recommendations
In light of the current economy and the budgetary struggles the District faces, the Broward Teachers Union (BTU) issued a series of position papers outlining cost cutting and budget reduction recommendations.  Many of the recommendations included in these documents were initiatives the District had already implemented to address the inadequate funding of public education by Florida’s legislature.  Examples of these initiatives include the District’s energy conservation program, reduction in travel, and implementation of a summer 4-day work week.

Outlined below are the links for the BTU’s position papers, as well as the District’s responses to these recommendations.

CUT THE FAT AND OTHER BUDGET REDUCTION RECOMMENDATIONS
In February 2009, the BTU issued its first budget reduction recommendations in a position paper entitled, “Cut the Fat and Other Budget Reduction Recommendations” It also developed a second document called, “Solutions: Save Our Students”  After analyzing these recommendations to validate their feasibility and potential for savings, the District issued a formal response and met with the BTU in December 2009 to discuss these findings.  As previously stated, many of the recommendations had already been implemented by the District. Other recommendations were not supported by the District because of their potential to interrupt or reduce services to students and parents, or they require negotiations with the union to temporarily suspend contract provisions.

WASTE INVENTORY AND PREVENTION REPORT (WIPE)
On December 17, 2009, the BTU issued its second formal position paper regarding cost cutting recommendations.  The Waste Inventory and Prevention Report (WIPE) contained many of the same recommendations from the BTU’s previous documents.  Again, the District analyzed these recommendations and provided its response to the WIPE report to the BTU in May, 2010. 

SMART SOLUTIONS 4 BROWARD KIDS
On June 5, 2010, the BTU issued its most recent position paper outlining recommendations to reduce District costs.  This position paper titled, “Smart Solutions 4 Broward Kids”, simply reformats previous recommendations provided by the BTU and responded to by the District.  This document focuses on 12 “smart” solutions.  A majority of these solutions were addressed by the District in its previous responses to the BTU’s recommendations.  The solutions again include initiatives the District has already implemented or require negotiations to suspend benefits afforded teachers under their current contract. They also include recommendations which the District continues to not support at this juncture.  The primary recommendations the District has not supported involve the reduction to employee calendars or the consolidation of neighborhood schools.  Although the District does not support these measures now, similar strategies may become inevitable if the inadequate funding of public education is not addressed by the Florida legislature.

Cost Cutting Initiatives
As stated, the District has already implemented several initiatives aimed at lowering District expenses.  Outlined below are several of the more prominent initiatives.

- Reduction in Central Administration – Over the last three years, the Superintendent has continued to reduce the number of central administration positions included in the District’s Organizational Chart.  During this period of time, the Organizational Chart has decreased by 135 positions, or 23%.  These reductions and hiring freezes associated with central administration positions during the same period of time has resulted in a savings of over $21 million.  A summary analysis of Organizational Chart position over these three years, and a detailed listing of the specific positions eliminated for each year, can be found by clicking here.

- Energy Conservation – The District spends more than $50 million each year on electricity.  Several years ago, the District implemented an energy conservation program aimed at lowering utilization of electricity.  This program included retrofitting many schools with more energy efficient equipment and incentive programs to lower their energy consumption.  This effort has been very successful despite the ever-increasing unit costs for electricity.  Last school year, the District saved more than $6.8 million in electricity costs.  The attached document shows a FPL customer profile and month-to-month comparison of electricity utilization and costs for the last two years.

- 4-Day Summer Work Week – In 2009, the District implemented a 4-day summer work week to further reduce its utility costs.  In 2009, this effort resulted in nearly a $1 million savings in energy costs when compared to the previous summer.  Based on this success, the District again implemented this program for the summer of 2010.  Here is a link to the 2009 analysis of the 4-day work week.

- Reduction in Travel – The District has also reduced its annual travel expenses by only allowing travel deemed essential. In fiscal year 2007/2008, annual travel expenses were slightly more than $4 million.  Last year, travel expenses totaled $2.8 million.  This represents a 30% reduction in travel expenses.  Included in the $2.8 million expense is employee mileage reimbursements.  Employees who utilize their personal vehicle in conjunction with their daily job responsibilities are provided mileage reimbursement.  Last year mileage represented $1.4 million or 50% of the total travel expense. A more detailed analysis of the last three years of travel expenses can be found by clicking this link.

- Reduction in Consulting Services – In fiscal year 2008/2009, the District expended $21.4 million from the General Fund hiring outside consultants to provide professional services. A large component of these professional services is utilized by the District’s Exceptional Student Services (ESE) department to provide academic support or services directly identified within students’ Individual Education Plans (IEP).  Last year, the District strived to minimize consulting services, except where specifically designated by an IEP or such services were absolutely necessary to the operations of the District.  The consulting services expense for fiscal year 2009/2010 was reduced by $13.6 million to $7.8 million. This represents a 64% reduction in the use of consultants.