Fowler: There’s going to be Madison layoffs
At the Feb. 7 Special Education Parent Advisory Meeting, School Superintendent Dr. Dee Fowler started off with some not so good news.
Fowler said the school system would have to make certain cuts next school year due to the discontinuance of a $5 million stimulus package.
“The number one topic I get asked about the most is budget and where is the state of Alabama right now.” Fowler said. “Last year, the state got together and said here is your budget and this is how many teachers you need to hire.”
Fowler said before that budget was complete, they system was told it was getting a smaller amount of money and couldn’t fire anyone or cut salaries.
“The word this year is that next year’s budget for the state will be 10 percent less than it is now,” Fowler told the crowd. I don’t think a lot of people realize that over two-thirds of our money comes from Montgomery. So, if Montgomery isn’t doing well, then we’re not doing well.”
Madison City Schools currently employs 80 people with stimulus money.
“Obviously there’s going to be Madison layoffs,” he said.
Fowler did mention there were alternatives, one of which would be to decrease teacher days.
“Currently, teachers come to school 187 days,” he said. “If you look and see the state of Georgia and other places that have already furloughed teachers… we expect that to be coming to Alabama soon, so it is a possibly that could occur.”
Mayor Paul Finley was also at the meeting. He spoke more about the city’s efforts in making facilities more handicap-accessible.
“Our mission statement is to improve quality of life that’s one of the components we want to focus on,” said Madison Mayor Paul Finley. “There are areas where we can make a difference and the board is helping us with that.”
Finley thanked School Superintendent Dr. Dee Fowler, for helping the city find areas where they can do better and helping us find areas where we need improvement.
Finley said about 100 colonels are moving to the area and said most are moving to Madison
“A lot of people with special needs are coming,” Finley said. “When it comes to taking care of our children, we stand out. We’re finding many areas where we’re improving the quality of life for our kids.”
He said one way the quality of life will be improved is by finding jobs for special needs students after they’ve completed high school.
“From the city standpoint, I ask internally to see what we have,” Finley said. “I talk with department heads and ask the Chamber of Commerce to find businesses that may be able to help. We’ll find every niche in our area we can to support that program.
The subject of adult assisted living conditions in the city arose, to which Finley said he hasn’t “talked much about it,” but will look into it. Maria Kilgore director of special education, said there is a housing subgroup on the Disability Advocacy Board that’s looking into that issue.
