Tuscaloosa Co. Schools cuts 16 jobs

A West Alabama school district, hit hard by proration, has eliminated more than a dozen workers.

The Tuscaloosa County School system has lost $6.8 million due to proration in this fiscal year that began just more than a month ago. Based on the recommendation of the superintendent, the school board voted to eliminate 16 jobs, cutting $500,000 from the budget.

It’s a special mid-day visit between daughter and mom, Alex and Katie Toxey. Eight-year-old Alex needs a ventilator to live, something the LPN’s at Sprayberry Education Center, a school for special needs kids in the Tuscaloosa County School District, are trained to do.

But now some of these nurses will be among the 16 employees to lose their jobs.  It’s all because of proration.  The school system has lost about $7 million.  That’s why these 16 positions have been eliminated including some nurses at Sprayberry.

Alex’s mom, Katie Toxey said, “The safety of our kids is at stake here.“

Dozens of other children like Toxey’s have medical needs that only a specially trained LPN can do, so cutting nurses brings tears to Toxey’s eyes.

Toxey said, “How can you take a nurse away from these children that need these people to live. How can you do that?“

Tuscaloosa Co. Schools Superintendent Frank Costanzo said due to proration he had no other choice.

Costanzo said, “It’s a decision, we don’t have any other choice.  If you can’t pay people, and you can’t make that happen any other way, we have done everything creatively we can do, we don’t have any creative options anymore.“

Costanzo admits the cuts will hurt the system.  No one knows that better than the Toxey family.

Last week, the Tuscaloosa County Commission extended the one cent sales tax for six years. The school system will begin receiving payments in September 2010 to help it fund the budget.