MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — The Martin County School District plans to cut district staff as part of a reorganization for the upcoming school year, saving nearly $4 million from next year's budget.
Superintendent Michael Maine told WPTV Treasure Coast reporter Tyler Hatfield the plan includes eliminating 16 administrative and district-level positions, which includes three assistant principal positions and removing 42 unfilled instructional vacancies.
Maine said 10 of those vacancies were held in reserve, contingent on increasing enrollment.
WATCH BELOW: Martin County schools plan staff cuts to save nearly $4M
"The reorganization is eliminating positions that we felt, or I felt, are no longer needed at the district office, so that we brunt a majority of the reduction," Maine said.
Maine said the cuts reflect how the district routinely manages staffing each year.
"This is a normal way that we operate. We go through every year. We look at the number of students that are projected. We allocate based on the number of students that are projected to show up," Maine said.
The changes are expected to save about $3.9 million from the district's projected budget next school year.
"For us, that's a lot of money for a district our size," Maine said.
The Martin County School District currently enrolls 16,000 students. Maine said the goal is to protect classroom resources while streamlining operations at the district level.
"We absolutely can streamline and become more efficient at the district office with taxpayer dollars to be able to do more with less at the district versus at individual school sites," Maine said.
Maine described his approach to the reorganization simply.
"Lean and mean is what I like to say," Maine said.
Not everyone is fully on board with the scope of the cuts. Abigal, whose son will be a fourth grader at Jensen Beach Elementary this fall, said she values the small class sizes and close teacher relationships the district currently offers.
"The teachers have one-to-one interactions with the kids, they do a lot of different kinds of learning as well," Abigal said.
She said she hopes the district is careful about how deep the cuts go.
"The children need, you know, the admin, they need the teachers, they need all the resources, as much as they can get," Abigal said.
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