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0 PROJECT OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE Pine Ridge High School – Media Center
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PROJECT OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Pine Ridge High School – Media Center
POC – 3rd Annual Report 1
Table of Contents
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 1
Project Oversight Committee Members ......................................................................................... 2
Project Oversight Committee Meeting Schedule ............................................................................ 3
Meeting and Other Dates .............................................................................................................. 3
Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 4
Revenues and Expenditures .......................................................................................................... 5
Half Cent Sales Tax 2017-2031 ....................................................................................................... 5
Project Status Summary ................................................................................................................ 8
Resolution 2014-05 ....................................................................................................................... 8
Additional Projects – Half Cent Sales Tax ..................................................................................... 15
External Influences ..................................................................................................................... 17
February 14, 2018 – Parkland Shooting ........................................................................................ 17
State Legislation ......................................................................................................................... 17
Cost of Construction .................................................................................................................... 18
Charter School Applications ........................................................................................................ 18
Committee’s Recommendations/Conclusions .............................................................................. 19
Attachment 1 - Project Expenditures ........................................................................................... 21
Attachment 2 - Senate Bill 7030 ................................................................................................... 22
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Project Oversight Committee Members Mitch Aten Director of CRM, Enterprise Portals & Learning Systems Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Sandy Burke Bishop Top Shelf Properties, LLC
W. Ben Flowers, Jr. President/CEO Mainstreet Community Bank of Florida Richard Holtz (deceased February 2019) President /CEO InfiniSys, Inc. Jacob D. Lammers CPA Charles L. Belote & Associates P.A. Jim Mather President Paytas Homes Debra Muller Chief Financial Officer Volusia County Schools
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Project Oversight Committee Meeting Schedule
The Committee presented their second annual report to the School Board on September 25, 2018.
Meeting and Other Dates
• September 5, 2018 - Regular Meeting
• October 18, 2018 - Regular Meeting
• November 15, 2018 - Regular Meeting
• February 21, 2019 - Regular Meeting
• April 25, 2019 - Regular Meeting
• May 23, 2019 - Regular Meeting
• June 20, 2019 - Regular Meeting
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Introduction
The Project Oversight Committee, as representatives of the citizens of Volusia County, present our 3rd Annual Report to the Volusia County School Board as a record of the oversight activity that has occurred through Fiscal Year 2019, beginning on July 1, 2018 and ending June 30, 2019. This past year presented many challenges for both the School District staff as well as the Oversight Committee. At the same time, these challenges were faced with persistence and fortitude resulting in many great successes that ultimately support the School District’s vision of ‘Ensuring all students receive a superior 21st century education’.
Fiscal year 2019 is the second fiscal year in which the half cent sales tax, approved by voters on August 26, 2014, was collected for an entire fiscal year with collections beginning on January 1, 2017.
Official enrollment for School Year 2018-2019 was 63,264 students, a slight increase of ½% over the previous year. The growth experienced in the county has been, and will continue to be, influenced by the in-migration of empty nesters and retirees, as can be evidenced by the number of 55+ and older residential communities, such as Latitude Margaritaville.
The Committee spent the first half of this year primarily focused on security plan updates and the implementation of legislative mandates as required by last year’s Senate Bill 7026 in response to the Parkland shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. In addition to the $2 million allocated annually towards security from the half cent sales tax, the district also received $2.2 million in funds from the state-funded Educational Facilities Security Grant, to implement security measures mandated by the state. The Project Oversight Committee received updates on the status of these projects, reaffirming that providing a safe learning environment for the students of our County is the primary focus of the District.
The second half of the year was focused on construction project updates and a review of the financing options for future projects. In August of 2018, we saw the opening of Pierson Elementary, the first replacement school project that was funded by the half cent sales tax. This marked the beginning of a new era of school design in Volusia County, representing the future of learning for the students of today and tomorrow, and for many years to come.
We would also like to take a moment to recognize that the Project Oversight Committee suffered sorrow in February 2019, as we were informed of the loss of Richard Holtz, one of our committee members. Richard was a strong supporter of public education and dedicated many hours to this Committee and to Volusia County. His expertise in areas of technology, security, and construction were an asset that he freely offered to the District. His presence and commitment to this endeavor will be missed.
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Revenues and Expenditures
Half Cent Sales Tax 2017-2031
Revenues from sales tax receipts, bond issues, project expenditures and debt service are shown on Table 1, Table 2, and Chart 1. Other funds that were used to supplement sales tax revenues included Local Capital Improvement Fund (LCIF) and Impact Fees for a total FY19 Adopted Capital budget of $208.7 million.
Sales tax revenues, distributed monthly by the state, came in at $44.8 million, which is $3.1M (+7%) greater than the FY19 budget estimate of $41.7 (Chart 2). As reported in the FY 2016-17 Annual Report, the School Board issued $40 million in sales tax revenue bonds on November 17, 2016 (See Table 2). Proceeds of these bonds were used to jumpstart large projects, such as the Pierson Elementary and Chisholm Elementary Replacement Schools.
Fiscal Year
Sales Tax Revenue Interest Earnings & Misc.
Debt Service Expenditures - Projects
Funds Remaining
2017 $ 21,462,837 $ 14,915 $ 1,953,004 $ 597,595
2018 $ 42,941,909 $ 396,263 $ 3,328,348 $ 15,896,985
2019 $ 44,814,724 $ 1,077,576 $ 3,250,128 $ 34,328,707
Total $ 109,219,470 $ 1,488,753 $ 8,531,480 $ 50,823,287 $ 51,352,708
Fiscal Year
Bond Proceeds Interest Earnings & Misc.
Expenditures - Projects
Funds Remaining
2017 $ 40,246,896 $ 132,458
$ 18,591,628
2018
$ 205,517
$ 15,631,433
2019 $ 87,329 $ 4,092,528 Total $ 40,246,896 $ 425,304 $ 38,315,589 $ 2,356,610
Total Project Expenditures/Total Funds Remaining $ 97,670,356 $ 53,709,318
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$0.0
$10.0
$20.0
$30.0
$40.0
$50.0
$60.0
$70.0
REVENUE/BOND PROCEEDS
REVENUE EXPENDITURES SERVICE
SALES TAX INTEREST & OTHER
PROJECT DEBT
Mill
ions
Sales Tax Interest & Other Project DebtRevenue/Bond
Proceeds Revenue Expenditures Service
2017 $61.7 $0.1 $19.2 $2.02018 $42.9 $0.6 $31.5 $3.32019 $44.8 $1.2 $38.4 $3.2
Sales TaxRevenue/Bond Proceeds and Expenditures
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- 2,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000 12,000,000
FY18 3RD QUARTER
FY18 4TH QUARTER
FY19 1ST QUARTER
FY19 2ND QUARTER
FY19 3RD QUARTER
FY19 4TH QUARTER
9,231,846
9,231,846
10,435,164
10,435,164
10,435,164
10,435,164
11,506,770
11,017,071
10,646,630
10,929,061
11,679,421
11,559,611
Actual Revenues Projected Revenues
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Project Status Summary All projects are sales tax funded unless otherwise noted. Specific project budgets and expenditures are provided in Attachment 1.
Resolution 2014-05 Recommended Project List
Reflecting 2013 estimated allocation over the 15-year term
• Security Enhancements: ALL SCHOOLS & BUSES
• School needs vary. Security enhancements may include, but not be limited to, one or more of the following:
o Cameras – In progress o Cypher Locks – In progress o Electronic lock system – In progress o Fencing – 65 schools completed o Impact resistance window laminate o Panic buttons – Completed (Raptor) o Ridership Verification & Accountability System - Completed o School Visitor Management System (Raptor) – Completed
• Total Security Project Expenditures to Date: $2,453,899
After the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14th, 2018 the Volusia County School Board declared an emergency district-wide security fencing project at their March 27, 2018 board meeting. With this declaration, the school board directed that the remaining security project funds in the FY 18 budget be directed towards security fencing for all district schools. Since the camera and lock projects were only in the planning phase, work on those projects was delayed and all funds were shifted to the new priority of security fencing. The focus for the FY 19 annual $2M security allocation included a list of schools that were scheduled to receive security fencing. The security fencing projects make use of the existing campus layout and fence lines and by adding additional fencing and gates, create a single point of entry that will restrict visitor access to the reception office in the administration building. Since every campus has a slightly different fence and building layout, the solution necessary to accomplish the task is unique to each campus. The ultimate design for each solution resulted from collaboration between the principal, security professionals, and the project manager. As of June 30, 2019, 65 campuses have completed projects and five are either in design or under construction.
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As part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Safety Act, the District Educational Facilities Security State Grant in the amount $2,183,924 was received. Of this amount, $13,533 was allocated to district charter schools. The remainder was used to purchase various pieces of equipment for district schools such as the cameras, cypher locks, and impact resistance window laminate in the front office reception areas.
• Classroom & School Based Technology Retrofits & Upgrades: ALL SCHOOLS - Ongoing
• Career & Technology Education Upgrades: ALL SECONDARY SCHOOLS - Ongoing
• High School Academies – Ongoing
• Middle School Electives - Ongoing
• District Based Technology Retrofits & Upgrades - Ongoing
To illustrate the impacted categories funded with the $9M annual allocation, the following table is provided:
Category Proposed
Spending Actual Spending
Student Computers 54.52% 55.2% Teacher Computers 20.00% 5% Network Expansion & Enhancement 16.05% 31.12% Projectors/Display Panels 3.20% 5.4% Administrator Computers 2.20% 0.2% Update telephones (Cisco) 2.00% 0% Multimedia & Audio Enhancement 0.60% 0.5% CTE Student Computers 0.44% 2% Reserves 0.40% 0.5% Increased server storage in Data Center 0.08% 0% Printers 0.03% 0.08%
Major items of focus are summarized as: • More than 7,500 student laptops offering touch screen and tablet/laptop dual functionality to
assist all grade levels with academic needs and statewide computer-based testing.
• Replaced more than 600 classroom projection devices. Enterprise Elementary is the first elementary school to pilot large flat panel monitors in place of traditional ceiling mounted projectors for desired presentation needs.
• Completed first major Federal eRate project successfully replacing 44 elementary schools’ core networking equipment. This successful project was completed intentionally to assist with a
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future eRate request to increase their WAN (wide-access-network) speeds and remaining hardware (switches, access points, cabling, etc…).
• Completed second major Federal eRate project Phase 1 successfully replacing all networking equipment (core, switches, access points) in every middle and high school (24 in total). Phase 2 is in process through the first half of the 2019-2020 school year and entails replacing network cabling inside of each school. Phase 3 is also set to complete toward the end of 2019 which is comprised of another Federal eRate Category 1 awarded project to increase all middle and high school sites WAN (wide-access-network) speeds from 10Gb to 40GB.
• Technology was provided to support the Construction/Facility projects such as the media center retrofits, renovations and Chisholm replacement. New devices include projectors, flat-panel monitors, flexible device storage, and wireless enabled devices to allow for streaming of content from staff/student Windows devices.
• Total Technology Project Expenditures to Date: $26,044,535
• Total Science Classroom Remodeling MS Project Expenditures to Date: $0
Pierson/Seville Elementary School Replacement:
• Pierson Elementary opened in August 2018
• Architect: BRPH Architects and Engineers
• Construction: Welbro Building Corporation
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $21,769,277
Chisholm Elementary School (Replacement on site): • New Construction started in June 2018. The project is behind schedule and Phase I opening
will be delayed until September 2019. Phase II, including remaining demolition and new construction, will begin upon successful completion of and move-in to Phase I.
• Architect: Rhodes & Brito
• Construction: H.J. High Construction, Inc.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $13,387,872
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George Marks Elementary School (Replacement on site):
• Construction of the 28-classroom & administration suite portable village commenced along with site utilities and demolition. The Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for new construction and remodeling was approved by the Board on June 25, 2019.
• GMP is $19,426,139.
• Architect: Harvard Jolly Architecture
• Construction: Wharton Smith, Inc.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $1,468,668
Deltona Middle School (Replacement on site):
• Planning and design phase continued. Unsuitable soil conditions necessitated project team to reevaluate design options and construction costs.
• Architect: C.T. Hsu Architects • Construction: Core Construction • Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $556,167
Tomoka Elementary School (Replacement on site)
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $0
• Total New/Replacement Schools Expenditures to Date: $37,181,984
Track resurfacing/replacement & athletic fields: ALL HIGH SCHOOLS
Atlantic High School:
• Field lighting initiated.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $110,603
DeLand High School:
• Outdoor Restrooms. Track renovation completed.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $529,602
Deltona High School:
• Athletic Field
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• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $34,748
Mainland High School:
• One-year lease. Athletic Field renovation.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $34,622
New Smyrna Beach High School:
• Municipal Stadium 10-year Agreement
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $250,000
Pine Ridge High School:
• Track Renovation Completed
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $362,258
Seabreeze High School:
• One-year lease. Field renovation completed. Track renovation initiated. Interlocal Agreement with City of Ormond Beach 10-year Agreement at Nova Recreation and Airport Sports Complex.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $237,874
Spruce Creek High School:
• Softball dugout and backstop renovation completed.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $179,292
T.D. Taylor Middle-High School:
• Outdoor restroom installed.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $177,203
University High School: • Outdoor restroom installed. Field lighting completed.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $687,352
Total Athletics/Physical Education Expenditures to Date: $2,603,554
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
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Enterprise Elementary School:
• Classroom renovations/replacement
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $0
McInnis Elementary School: • Connect to potable water and/or sanitary sewer when available
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $0
Orange City Elementary School: • Classroom renovations & additions, site improvements/circulation
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $0
Ortona Elementary School:
• Classroom renovations, site improvements/circulation.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $0
Osceola Elementary School:
• New construction: administration/guidance, classroom renovations, windows & doors, exterior walls, site improvement/circulation.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $0
Palm Terrace Elementary School:
• Media center retrofit initiated.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $88,248
Read-Pattillo Elementary School:
• New construction: administration/guidance, classroom renovations, exterior walls, site improvement/circulation
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $0
Starke Elementary School:
• Doors, ceiling & lights and interior finishes including electrical, restroom renovations
• Media center reroof initiated
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $3,027
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Westside Elementary School: • Multi-phased project funded with $2,000,000 in sales tax funds representing six percent of the
total project budget. Completed new classroom/administrative building and expanded parent pick up loop, August 2019. Began construction on new cafeteria and remodeling of existing cafeteria and administrative spaces.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $35,250
Woodward Elementary School:
• Classroom renovations & addition, restroom renovations.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $0
MIDDLE SCHOOLS New Smyrna Beach Middle School:
• Classroom addition, Site work, circulation, façade upgrade
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $0
Silver Sands Middle School:
• Exterior site improvements, parking lot & lighting
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $0
DeLand Middle School:
• Completed Campus-wide HVAC ceiling and lighting renovation project. Half cent sales tax funding accounted for some of total project funding.
• Total Half cent sales tax expenditure to date $821,066.
HIGH SCHOOLS Atlantic High School:
• HVAC replacement, ceiling & lighting, electric service upgrade, roof replacement, auditorium renovations, window replacement, technology lab conversion.
• Completed HVAC renovations for buildings 3, 4, 5 and chiller replacement for building 5. Completed media center retrofit. Initiated roof replacement design and fire alarm and intercom replacement design. Replaced doors. Renovated aquaculture lab.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $3,298,795
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DeLand High School: • Began media center retrofit.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $173,979
Deltona High School:
• Windows and doors replacement, technology lab conversion
• Completed media center retrofit.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $383,392
Pine Ridge High School:
• HVAC replacement, ceiling & lighting, electric service upgrade, roof replacement, technology lab conversion, culinary lab
• Completed second phase of replacing chillers and renovating HVAC for buildings 2, 3, 4 and 5. Proceeded with design and construction of total roof replacement. Began HVAC, ceiling and lighting renovations for building 8. Completed media center retrofit.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $4,537,872
Seabreeze High School:
• Exterior door replacement, Buildings 8 & 9 classroom renovations
• Completed window and door replacement in buildings 7 – 11 and began an upgrade to the chiller plant. Completed media center retrofit.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $1,059,126
Spruce Creek High School:
• HVAC Replacement, electric service upgrades
• Installed a 35 Ton A/C Unit on Cafeteria, Controls & Roof Curb. Began architectural and engineering evaluation of all building systems and envelope with recommendations for remodeling, renovations, and classroom addition.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $274,205
Total Specific and Significant Project Expenditures to Date: $10,674,960
Funds for technology have been allocated from the Half-Cent for both new ERP and SIS systems with a combined annual budget of $5.1M in FY19 and actual FY19 expenditures of $4.5M. Change orders were approved in the amount of $2.3M to extend the go live date for the ERP, in addition to
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equipment purchases and interface development needed for the system design. For each year of FY20-FY24, $1.3M is budgeted for annual software subscriptions. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Modern, more efficient, cloud-based technology is replacing our outdated ERP systems. Oracle Fusion-Budgeting and Financial components went live February 1 and July 1, 2019, respectively. The Human Capital Management (HR & payroll) is scheduled to go live January 1, 2020. FOCUS was selected for SIS and will be officially live on July 31, 2019. Oracle’s state of the art infrastructure will provide storage, processing, scaling, security and integration capabilities. The district hopes to expand as many business operations into a single system over time to increase efficiency, and to provide seamless integration and security.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $8,458,363
Student Information System (SIS) FOCUS is a Florida-based cloud system that will seamlessly integrate all of our student data including scheduling, grade book, registration, attendance and parent portal and will “allow administrators, teachers, parents, and students to concentrate on what matters… a quality education that prepares students to excel in today’s competitive global community.” With cloud-based systems we will need less on-site support from our technology team, and that will insure employees will be working on the most current software with constantly improved functionality.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $1,474,684
$40M Bond Issuance In FY17, bond issuance costs from the $40M bond issue, were transferred to the Half-cent. This bond issue was to assist in jumpstarting the new Pierson school and other projects.
• Total Half Cent Sales Tax Project Expenditures to Date: $246,896
Total Other Project Expenditures to Date: $10,179,942
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External Influences The Committee recognizes that there are issues that extend beyond the district's control
yet impact the capital program.
February 14, 2018 – Parkland Shooting On February 14, 2018, another school shooting occurred that resulted in the deaths of 15 high schoolers and two teachers. This school shooting occurred in Parkland, Florida at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School and forever changed the landscape of Florida’s public schools. In response to the tragedy, legislation passed in 2018 (SB 7030) and 2019 (SB 7026) required several new initiatives. The 2018-19 school year saw the implementation of safe school officers at all Volusia schools. High schools, some middle schools and elementary schools were staffed by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office or city police officers. All other elementary schools and middle schools were staffed with district employed guardians, as well as several guardians supplemented security at the high schools. The Legislature also focused on continued school hardening efforts which will take several years to complete. Educational facilities grants are available to supplement districts’ efforts.
State Legislation During the 2019 Legislative session, there was again legislation passed that addressed capital outlay and construction of educational facilities. Senate Bill 7070 revisited issues relating to educational plant surveys and more importantly, the maximum construction costs per student station, that had been adopted in more recent years. Particularly noteworthy points from SB 7070 included:
• That an educational plant survey and needs assessment approved by DOE is not required when a district uses local funds for a project. These funds include the 1.5 millage (LCIF), half cent sales tax, voter approved bonds, impact fees, gifts or donations, or any other locally generated monies;
• Provides more flexibility for school construction by only requiring a majority vote of the school board to implement one or more exceptions to SREF. Deletes language requiring a cost-benefit analysis and the requirement that specified public workshops be conducted. Does not exempt a school district from meeting hurricane shelter construction requirements unless exemption is approved by the local regional planning council.
• Requirements to meet construction cost per student station are modified and punitive measures are removed entirely. Exception to meeting construction cost per student station is based on a lease-purchase agreement (COPS funding). DOE, in conjunction with EDR, is now required to come up with a reliable and relevant construction cost index by January 1, 2020 as well as revise the actual construction cost per student station. Site improvements costs are removed from the cost per student station, as are legal and administrative costs. Furniture and equipment costs remain.
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Cost of Construction The district had good showings for bid openings and received competitive prices that were largely within budget estimates this year even though labor and material costs continued to show increases. Labor burden costs that were previously negotiated rates of 43% saw an increase to 47% this year. The national average is 55-60%. This was largely attributed to the continuing large number of local construction projects and a skilled labor shortage. Material costs showed a 20-25% increase particularly in metals and petroleum-based products and was attributed to both demand and tariffs. The bids received for George Marks Master Plan were favorable. The GMP was five percent less than the GMP for Chisholm.
Charter School Applications The school district received three new charter school applications during FY 19. Southeast Volusia Charter (SEV), resubmitted its application from the previous year and was the only application approved. It will result in a 1,200-student middle/high school being opened in Edgewater in August 2020 and will be a sister school to the Burns Science and Technology Charter. As noted in last year’s report, new charter schools opening in Volusia County, without a considerable increase in student population, will result in less operational efficiencies and impact the need for some schools to remain open and/or receive considerable capital improvements.
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Committee’s Recommendations/Conclusions
The Project Oversight Committee continues to adhere to our mission of representing the Citizens of Volusia County, through the oversight of the outlay of funds generated by the Half Cent Sales Tax. The Volusia County School District staff, as an extension of the Volusia County School Board, are accountable to the citizens of Volusia County and must be good stewards of the funds which they have been entrusted. We hold this commitment as the foundation of our oversight and ensure that we are adequately informed of all decisions regarding these funds.
As we complete our 3rd year of oversight, we have a high level of confidence that the District staff continue to make sound fiscal decisions regarding the half cent sales tax funds, while navigating a complex and challenging political, social, and economic environment. We reaffirm our confidence that our tax dollars are being utilized in a responsible manner.
As noted in this report and in previous reports, external factors are a continued source of uncertainty that influence changes and adjustments to the original project plans. The persistence of threats to the safety of our students is a perfect example of these external influences. The tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018 caused an immediate and warranted escalation in the original plans and was required to help ensure the safety of our students. The School District acted appropriately and accelerated certain projects such as creating a single point of entry at our schools.
Over the last year, the Committee also provided input to the District staff regarding financing options. Large projects such as school construction, require upfront funding in order to begin. While the half cent sales tax will ultimately provide the revenue needed to fund these projects in the long term, it only provides those funds as they are collected through the sales tax. This presents a problem when trying to kick-off these projects and not induce delays in construction. The committee heard several options from District staff including a “Pay as You Go” model, short-term bonds, and long-term bonds. The Committee has recommended the use of short-term bonds as a means of funding these projects. While this approach does incur an added cost through interest, we believe this is a conservative and prudent approach to immediately funding the schools of our future. The School Board agreed with this approach and, as noted in this report, has proceeded with a 5-year, $100 million bond which will ensure the timely completion of the half cent sales tax projects.
At our most recent meeting, we had the opportunity to tour the newly opened wing of Westside Elementary School. As we visited this beautiful newly designed space, it became evident that while staff were thrilled to be in a new space, they were overwhelmed with the transition to a new mode of learning. The Committee recommends the implementation of a
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transition plan to assist teachers as they move into these new state-of-the-art learning environments. The “if you build, they will come” approach is not sufficient to ensure that the new space is utilized to its fullest potential. Leaning on the successes that have been realized at schools such as Pierson Elementary, will greatly benefit and expedite the successes at the new facilities.
Moving forward, we feel that the District staff have been tasked with complex and conflicting priorities that require constant evaluation. The Committee recommends that a holistic approach to evaluating the District’s project portfolio is appropriate. We must ensure that individual projects are managed and prioritized, with a keen eye towards what is best for the students of the District as a whole. As much as we’d like to have all projects completed synchronously, this is an unrealistic proposition. Factors beyond the funding provided by the Half Cent Sales Tax must be considered, including the human resources required to manage the project portfolio itself. The Committee recommends appropriate scrutiny is given to these factors when planning project timelines.
In conclusion, we believe that the District staff remain open and transparent regarding the Half Cent Sales Tax funds. District staff are accommodating to the committee’s requests, and we feel that they continue to provide sufficient evidence to support the proper spending of these funds. While we work towards providing new facilities that are safe and technologically advanced for our students, we believe that the District continues to keep our students first in their decisions.
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Attachment 1 - Project Expenditures
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Attachment 2 - Senate Bill 7030
https://www.flsenate.gov/PublishedContent/Session/2019/BillSummary/Education_ED7030ed_7030.pdf
