The next couple of years could go down as a time that most Texas school human resource administrators would rather forget. The promise of drastic cuts in state funding for public education may not be as significant as preliminary legislative budgets indicated, but cuts are coming. School districts and their employees will see and feel the effects.
HR administrators will be looking high and low for ways to cut costs without having to lay employees off. But personnel expenses account for a hefty chunk—80 percent or more—of district expenses. Faced with potentially devastating cuts in state funding, many will find it impossible to balance the budget without eliminating positions (and laying off the employees that fill them).
Many districts have put a halt to hiring. Round Rock ISD is one district that has a hiring freeze 
in place. Like most districts, RRISD’s freeze is not a “hard” freeze in that the district can still hire new employees to fill critical or grant-funded positions with the approval of the superintendent. Freezing employee pay for the coming year (or possibly longer) is also on the table for districts. A few superintendents have also asked that their pay be frozen or cut for the duration of this funding crisis.
Districts are also reducing the size of their workforce through attrition. Northside ISD recently cut 268 open positions in an effort to save $17.6 million. Most of the positions eliminated were at-will positions in areas that won’t have a direct affect on the classroom (campus administration and auxiliary positions, including custodial, transportation, and maintenance jobs). Some instructional support positions were also cut.
It’s too early for most districts to have a good feel for the number of employees that might voluntarily resign or retire from their positions. In an attempt to have a better feel for the attrition they can anticipate, numerous districts are offering early resignation incentives . The incentives encourage employees who have plans to leave to declare their intentions well before the contractually required deadline, allowing the district to know how many positions it will have to fill. In the current budget climate, most districts will use employee attrition numbers to determine how many jobs might be spared in a reduction in force (RIF)—or whether a reduction in force is the only option.
Early resignation incentives range from modest amounts ($250 to $500) to very generous offerings. Dallas ISD is offering up to $10,000 for early resignation incentives and has already had more than 500 takers. Dallas ISD, San Marcos CISD , and other districts have offered incentives that are a percent of the employee’s salary. Other districts have structured their incentive as a buy-back of leave days and capped the total amount they will pay (see “Early resignation incentives give districts additional hiring time,” June 2009 HR Exchange). Offering incentives for early notice of resignation has never been more popular with districts eager to get a glimpse of their futures in the hopes of saving money and jobs.
Districts have a few other money-saving options without reducing the size of their workforce. They can reduce the number of duty days for anyone who works more than the required 187 days each year to save money. Irving ISD is one district that will reduce duty days for career and technical education staff, coaches, fine arts teachers, and JROTC instructors to save funds, according to a document posted on the district’s Web site.
Reducing stipends is also on the table for many districts. Northside ISD is eliminating stipends for mentors and special education tutors to save more than $500,000. Districts could also reduce or cut teacher incentive programs that reward top performers, particularly if they can’t secure federal grant funds to keep them going. Preliminary state budgets did not include the programs that have funded teacher incentives in the past.
HR administrators in attendance at the most recent Central Texas TASPA meeting also mentioned cutting local leave days, and eliminating travel budgets, and outsourcing services (custodial services, for example) as other potential cost savings steps their districts were considering.
Austin ISD is facing some grim budget realities. With an anticipated $94 million shortfall, the district is ahead of the curve in laying out its budget plan. It was among the first to conclude that layoffs are ahead, with around 1,150 positions targeted for elimination at this point. The Austin ISD board of trustees declared a financial exigency on March 1, clearing the way for cuts.
The district is considering cuts that would be unthinkable in other years. But this year (and at least the two years to follow) is not like other years, and the legislature’s business likely won’t be complete until after school budgets are written. That makes budget writers take a hard look at worst-case scenarios (even school closures and cuts to vital programs).
The district is building a budget that’s a bit of a gamble. It assumes that the Texas Legislature will waive or increase the limit on the number of students allowed in classes at the elementary level, specifically K-4th-grade classes (the budget plans for 24 students per teacher in K-4 classrooms, up from the current limit of 22 students). The district has also built a two-day unpaid furlough into its budget.
Both measures would save considerable personnel costs, but making predictions about the mandate relief the legislature might pass to help districts cut costs at this early date is challenging, to say the least. TASB’s Governmental Relations staff has gotten positive responses from some legislators regarding eliminating the mandate that prevents districts from furloughing employees, but that’s certainly no guarantee.
And if the current class size mandates remain in place, districts could seek class-size waivers from the Texas Education Agency, but the agency might not be inclined to approve large-scale waiver requests. In that case, Austin ISD could find itself back in a budget hole much sooner than expected and facing another round of cuts.
Plenty of districts will have no choice but to cut employees and are considering their options as they prepare for the inevitable.
North East ISD has tentative plans to cut 1,600 positions and may start by cutting up to 500 teachers on probationary contracts. Probationary contract employees are more vulnerable to cuts at this time because terminating them is a simple, one-step process: the board sends them notice that it doesn’t intend to renew their contract 45 days before the last day of instruction. New teachers, no matter how qualified, are likely to be disproportionately affected as districts cut teaching positions.
Districts will also approach staff cuts by taking a close look at special programs and elective classes. Those that serve a limited number of students could end up on the chopping block and the teachers involved could be laid off. For example, Arlington ISD is considering eliminating band and orchestra programs in its elementary schools.
Secondary class schedules are likely to change in lots of Texas districts, too. Districts that offer block schedules at the secondary level can save money by moving to conventional, seven-period school days, cutting down on the number of teachers needed to staff a school. The downside for students is they miss out on longer classes that help to develop deeper understanding of a subject. The downside for teachers is that they lose some of their planning time.
Districts are also considering replacing professionals with paraprofessionals in some instances. Irving ISD is a good example. At present, each of its campuses has a registered nurse (RN) on staff. The district intends to replace some RNs with licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) whose work will be supervised by an RN. The district also intends to retain RNs on campuses with “unique needs.”
In addition to removing furlough mandates, TASB’s Governmental Relations staff has gotten positive feedback from some legislators on eliminating a couple of other mandates:
Gaining some flexibility on these issues would help districts keep more people employed as they face a future that’s anything but certain.
—“East Texas school leaders say they’ll freeze pay,” by Christina Lane, Longview News-Journal Web site, Feb. 16, 2011.
—“Northside eliminating 268 vacant positions,” by Jennifer Lloyd, San Antonio Express News Web site, Feb. 23, 2011.
—“Dallas school district plans to offer incentives up to $10,000 to teachers to resign early,” by Matthew Haag, The Dallas Morning News, Feb. 22, 2011.
—“SMCISD offers incentive plan to reduce payroll costs,” by Jaime Kilpatrick, San Marcos Daily Record, Feb. 24, 2011.
—“Austin school district tackles drastic budget cuts,” by Laura Heinauer, Austin American-Statesman, Jan. 20, 2011.
—“AISD, other districts gamble on state law changes to write budgets,” by Ben Wermund, Austin American-Statesman, Feb. 9, 2011.
—“NEISD explores cutting 500 new teachers,” by Jennifer R. Lloyd, San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 28, 2011.
—“Curtain may fall on some Arlington fine arts programs," by Robert Cadwallader, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Feb. 24, 2011.
