Hillsborough superintendent will 'review all jobs' district-wide

TAMPA, Fla. - An overhaul to the Hillsborough County School District staffing is expected during the next two years, Superintendent Addison Davis confirmed Monday.

The superintendent wants to make sure every school is properly staffed to efficiently meet the needs of students. Over the years, some schools' populations have dipped, while faculty numbers remained constant.

"We've got to have the conversation about where we are potentially overstaffed and whether that's at the district-level or the school-based level and figure out a compromise of where we come back in line in order to be efficient," Davis said.

The district ended the last school year over budget due to COVID-19. On top of continued COVID-19 concerns, an increasing number of students are now enrolled in charter schools, which could cost the district about $250 million.

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Meanwhile, some schools have as few as 300 students but are operating at roughly the same budget as larger schools.

Davis said he plans to review every job in this organization during the next two years to determine if it needs to be reallocated or removed and is not ruling out any solution.

"There's always going to be possibilities of being able to potentially add or eliminate positions. That happens on an annual basis," he said.

The superintendent, however, said that doesn't necessarily mean layoffs; employees whose positions are eliminated can be rehired for other jobs and he expects attrition through retirements will help.

The Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association is working with district leaders on the plan and doesn't expect job cuts.

"We do not foresee layoffs. We have not had any discussion nor has the district mentioned that word layoffs to us at all," said Rob Kriete, HCTA's president. "We believe that there is going to be a realignment. We have to take a look at the unit allocations between the brick and mortar teachers and the e-learning and kind of right the ship and kind of balance the scales a little bit."

Davis said there are about 500 open positions that could be eliminated as part of natural attrition.