TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Schools Hit Books

ADVERTISEMENT

By RONNIE BLAIR, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 14, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - The Pasco County School Board, which usually waits until summer before delving into number crunching, is already starting to talk about its 2008-09 budget and pondering plans to buy new buses and land for a high school as well as move ahead on construction projects.

"We've never started the budget process this early before," Assistant Superintendent Ray Gadd said last week at a workshop to discuss capital projects, some scheduled for this year and others planned further in the future.

Some board members, including chairwoman Kathryn Starkey, have pushed for earlier budget discussions so they can have more input as the school district staff plans priorities for the coming year.

One problem with moving up the discussion, though, is the district won't know how large or small the budget will be until after the Legislature meets in its regular session, beginning next month. In addition, the repercussions of the Amendment 1 property tax changes approved by voters in January are still fuzzy.

"I have no clear idea where we're at," Superintendent Heather Fiorentino told the board.

School officials anticipate that whatever the final numbers are, 2008-09 will be a tight budget year. Despite that, Fiorentino tried to strike an optimistic tone.

"We've had rough years before," she said in a board meeting that preceded the workshop. "When we work together, things can work well. It's going to be hard, but we can do it."

Board members would like the superintendent and her staff to provide a clearer idea of the choices they face so they can prioritize. If, for example, they buy land for a future school site, then what other projects might they have to do without?

Fiorentino said that's a difficult question to answer until after the Legislature meets and the district begins to get a better handle on the numbers.

More Than $1 Billion

The district's total budget has topped $1 billion the past couple of years, but the school board doesn't have carte blanche to do whatever it wants with all of the money.

Much of the district's funding comes from the state and federal governments, and often that money is allocated for specific purposes. The state also plays a large role in determining what the local property tax rate will be.

Among some of the capital projects the district is considering:

•The transportation department wants to buy 53 new buses. Forty of those would be standard, 65-passenger buses, and 13 would be specially equipped for students with disabilities.

The standard buses cost $76,966 each; the specially equipped buses cost $91,312 each. The total for the bus purchases would be $4.3 million.

Mike Park, the district's transportation director, said his department usually retires buses once they are 10 years old, but that's not always possible.

Right now, 66 of the district's 534 buses are older than 10 years. Older buses cost more to operate because they are less efficient and more expensive to repair, according to a transportation department report.

Handcart Road Land Eyed

•The district is considering buying land on Handcart Road near Dade City for a future high school. The seller has 225 acres but the district would prefer buying about 80 acres, a typical lot size needed for a high school, said Chris Williams, the district's planning director.

Money for the purchase likely would come from this year's budget, even though funds weren't set aside for it. Gadd said the district possibly could use impact fee money, which can be used only for capital projects such as land purchases and construction.

Although no date has been set for construction of a high school in that area, Gadd said the district could move to acquire the land now, in anticipation of future needs.

"The toughest property to find is for a high school," he said.

Board members agreed that was a good idea.

"If we've been given the opportunity and you can make the numbers work, high school sites ought to be a priority," board member Allen Altman said.

•The district expects to spend about $15.3 million on maintenance, nearly half of which would be for heating and air-conditioning projects.

Also on the list are classroom renovations, fencing, parking and traffic improvements, plumbing and landscaping, among numerous other things.

"We've got more projects than we know what to do with," said Gerald Brown, director of facility and maintenance services.

The maintenance department has taken care of many of the roofing problems at schools, Brown said. About $1.3 million is projected for roof repairs in 2008-09. That compares with $5.4 million this fiscal year and $9.8 million last year.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT