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Sarasota schools tax set to expire

 

Times were good in 2006 and student enrollment was up, allowing the district to use the millions in extra tax money to pay for guidance counselors, data and literacy coaches, and high school electives included in the Next Generation classroom initiative.

But four years later, school officials acknowledge they have largely dismantled that plan because of state budget cuts. Now, instead of using the money to start new and innovative programs, officials will argue the money is needed to avoid cutting teacher salaries or classroom programs.

“The state has set the bar for what it thinks is an adequate education,” said board member Shirley Brown. “I think our voters over and over have said they want more than an adequate education for our students here in Sarasota County.”

The School Board will decide Tuesday whether to put the renewal on the March ballot. Four of five board members said last week they support the referendum. One, Caroline Zucker, declined to comment before the board discusses the issue.

The extra 1 mill tax costs the average homeowner $1 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of a house valued at $300,000 would pay about $300 more in annual property taxes. Since 2002, it has brought in about $342 million.

School officials anticipate that if renewed, the tax would bring in between $40 million and $50 million a year, a total of between $160 million and $200 million during the four-year taxing period. The renewal would expire in 2014.

In 2006, 61 percent of voters supported the tax.

So far, any opposition to renewing the tax has stayed quiet, a contrast to four years ago when former Superintendent Gary Norris faced opposition from board members and some teachers before the issue was placed on the ballot.

Much of the opposition centered around Norris’ costly Next Generation education plan. The plan aimed to bring new technology into every classroom, bridge the achievement gap between white and minority students and give teachers tools to better engage their students. The plan’s price tag was $350 million.

While some elements of the plan remain — including interactive whiteboards installed in every classroom and 30 minutes added to the school day — other parts have been cut, including technology support, high school programs and data and literacy coaches who were key to closing the achievement gap.

Now, school officials will have to make their case to voters that those cuts would have run even deeper if they did not have the referendum dollars, and that if it is not renewed they could have to cut teacher pay by as much as 13 percent.

“I really believe we have been as frugal as we possibly can and we’ve cut any fat out of our budget,” said Frank Kovach, the most vocal fiscal conservative on the board, who at first opposed asking for the full 1 mill tax in 2006.

“It would be devastating at this point with all the cuts we just made to go back and cut more from the budget,” he said.

The situation is similar to when voters approved the tax in 2002 to help make up for three years of state budget cuts. The influx prevented the district from cutting art, music and sports programs.

School officials say that while they did cut some of the things included in Next Generation, they preserved many as well, including an extra 30 minutes in the school day and subsequent teacher raises.

They also preserved special programs and classes like the science lab that Mary Ward teaches at Ashton Elementary in Sarasota. The class gives students a chance to do hands-on experiments and learn the scientific method.

The third-graders sit on lab stools as they rub their fingers in pencil to take their fingerprints. Ward walks them through the scientific process of coming up with a hypothesis, testing it out and then drawing conclusions from the data.

“I see it as something that’s very much for the students,” Ward said. “They wouldn’t be able to have some of these experiences without that money.”