Markay Winston’s focus since becoming superintendent of Monroe County schools last July has been on the corporation’s fiscal health.
She presented MCCSC’s two-year phased strategy to achieve financial balance at the school board’s monthly meeting Tuesday night and again in her State of Our Schools address Wednesday night at Tri-North Middle School.
The strategy addresses declining student enrollment, higher payroll expenses and a loss of state funding.
“Our decreasing revenue and increasing costs will require long-term, structural changes to achieve fiscal health. I am fully confident that we can address these challenges in a phased and thoughtful way over the next two years,” Winston said.
MCCSC’s enrollment has declined 7.6 percent over the past three years, resulting in a loss of more than $17 million in revenue from the state. The county is projected to lose an additional 400 students over the next decade.
During the same time period, payroll expenses increased by almost 32 percent to $28.6 million.
In 2023, the state enacted tax caps on referendum funds. That means the $17.3 million approved by Monroe County voters in 2022 for staff wages was reduced by $1.3 million this year.
“The strategy that will be prioritized is one of natural attrition,” said Winston. “Every year, approximately 80-100 teachers and 250 to 300 support staff are hired in response to retirements or resignations. As employees leave, we will carefully assess the viability of reassigning existing staff into vacated positions.”
Winston began Phase One of the plan when she was named interim superintendent last July. That was a comprehensive fiscal review and cost analysis, which she presented at the meeting.
She said MCCSC will begin Phase Two this spring by implementing some measured cost containment.
Phase Three prioritizes a financial management plan and Phase Four will implement the strategies established in the plan. Phase Five calls for continuous evaluation of the financial plan.
“While change is never easy, I want to be clear, we will balance our fiscal reality to sustain the type of educational environments our students want and our community needs," she said. "Sustaining excellence, that is the mission.”
This story was updated with additional information.
