SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Baldwin County Schools’ funding crisis hit home for local parents and teachers Monday night as Interim Superintendent JaNay Dawson spoke plainly — and directly — to members of the Spanish Fort Middle School PTA about the impact continued revenue shortfalls will have on the feeder pattern and the system as a whole.

SFMS Principal Carol Palumbo said parent feedback has been positive, but the picture painted is a grim one ripe with continued layoffs and program cutbacks that not only increase class sizes but also threaten the system’s district accreditation.

To date, the system has lost $61 million in state and local funding over the past 24 months, and a temporary penny tax has been proposed to help minimize the number of teachers, staff and programs affected by future cuts.

The ballot for the March 23 referendum states specifically that, if approved, the tax would only be allowed for 36 months, and school system officials have been careful to note 100 percent of the revenue generated would stay in Baldwin County, meaning it would not be subject to the system’s “10 mil match.”

In a program referred to as “equity funding,” the state began in 1996 retaining 10 mils from each school system to be placed in the Education Trust Fund to help offset local tax revenue shortfalls. A mil is one one-thousandth of a property’s value dedicated entirely to educational spending. The program was designed to level the statewide funding playing field, but because Baldwin County assesses a separate 12-mil ad valorem tax, the system is essentially stripped of all discretionary funding once the two are combined.

In a previous interview with the Spanish Fort Sun, Jean McCutchen, the school system’s chief financial officer, explained how earmarks on the mils collected further complicate hamper the process.

“In addition to the 10-mil match, we’re also required to set aside another .865 mils for debt service and capital outlay, so as far as our 12 mils are concerned, we have less than two mils left unrestricted,” she said.

For Spanish Fort Middle School specifically, Palumbo said the cuts will be deep if an alternative revenue source is not found quickly.

“If the tax does not pass we will, first, lose all locally funded units,” she said, noting it will eliminate one guidance counselor and one assistant principal because the state funds only one of each for schools with less than 1,000 students.

“It is personally amazing to me that the state would think that one guidance counselor for 726 middle-school students is acceptable, but they do,” Palumbo said.

In addition, SFMS will lose 11 non-tenured teachers, many of whom transferred into the feeder pattern when it was constructed less than two years ago.

“These teachers left tenured positions in other systems across the state and region to work here, but they are non-tenured because they have been working for Baldwin County Schools less than three years,” she said.

And while the personnel cuts have been particularly harsh in recent months, Palumbo said if the referendum fails, SFMS will lose all “supplement” programs including music and athletics.

“These teachers spend hours after school supervising these worthwhile activities, but I just can’t support athletics or music programs with volunteers, so realistically, middle-school athletics and after-school music rehearsals and performances would be over,” she said.

Finally, Palumbo said although a specific number has not yet been released, additional teacher units will have to be cut if funding does not improve, and all of these measures are going to increase class sizes.

“I have regular classes with 34 students in them and (physical education) classes with over 60 students per teacher. It is clear that class sizes would grow dramatically,” she said, adding, “Yes, teachers will continue to teach to the best of their ability, and children will learn, but students who need more teacher attention, which many middle-school students desperately need, just won’t get it.”