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Caution to slow school plans
By BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writer
INVERNESS -- For months the School Board has held out hope that it could find a way to transform the 50-year-old former Citrus High School gymnasium into a community hub where teens could play hoops or gather for other activities. But now that dream seems dead. Complicated state building and financing rules made the project complex to begin with. Recent correspondence from state education officials didn't offer an easy solution. Then voters approved the class size and universal prekindergarten amendments last week, throwing the future of all Florida school spending into doubt. "Yes, I will have to let it go," board member Sandra "Sam" Himmel, chief booster for the gymnasium renovation, said Wednesday. And it was not just the gym project she was worried about. "I think we're going to have to take every capital budget project, look at every item and look to see if we need all of it or part of it," Himmel said. That viewpoint permeated Tuesday night's School Board meeting as the board struggled to balance long-planned -- and much needed -- construction projects against the stark new realities that new schools and classrooms never before conceived could be needed very soon. At Tuesday's meeting, the impact of the amendments affected discussion of four separate projects: the gymnasium project, the new location for the Renaissance Center, the master plan for Crystal River High School and the demolition, construction and renovation work planned for Crystal River Middle School. Educators have varying estimates on how many new schools Citrus might need to build and staff to meet the new legal requirements. One cost estimate is $90-million. The former gym at Citrus High houses the school's agriculture program. The hope had been that, by spending only a little extra money, the district could build a new wing of classrooms to house agriculture, thus freeing up the former gym so that a community group could turn it into an activity center. The district requested a waiver of state rules to accomplish that arrangement. But the answer, according to board attorney Richard "Spike" Fitzpatrick, was "somewhat ambiguous." Basically, state officials said state construction money could not be used for the project while the former gym was being used as classroom space. "It was something that we as a community wanted to do," Fitzpatrick said. "But with the current economic scenario you now face, I don't think you'll be able to do it now." He urged the board to let go of the idea and instead transform the former gym into more appropriate classroom space. That way, the board would maintain the building's structural integrity in case there's another move to revisit the project. "I think we all feel bad about this," said board Chairwoman Pat Deutschman. "These things are being forced on us. We're going to be struggling for some time with this class size amendment." Superintendent David Hickey said his staff had worked hard for months with consultants and officials to try to get the board the information it needed about the project. "What do you want me to do, cry?" Himmel asked. On Wednesday she said she was just ready to move on with the next project. "I still believe in my heart that it was the right thing to do," she said. "Nobody could ever convince me that we can spend too much money on kids." Because of community support for the project, including strong backing from the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce, the board delayed a formal vote ending the discussion of the project until next month's regular meeting. In light of the amendments, which require smaller class sizes and mandatory offering of prekindergarten, Himmel said other projects also need to be examined, including the purchase of a 22-acre tract adjacent to the Citrus County jail as a new site for the district's Renaissance Center. School officials have been negotiating for several months to buy the land. The deal has been complicated by specific development rules on the parcel and negotiations with the owner concerning who should be responsible for building infrastructure such as roads and utilities. Himmel said she would have trouble voting to spend several hundred thousand dollars for that site when she knows the Withlacoochee Technical Institute houses only a handful of high school students during the day. She asked administrators to present more information on those numbers before asking her to vote on a land purchase. Board member Carol Snyder reminded the board it had decided that, for the Renaissance Center to succeed, it needed to plan a facility around its program. The amendments' possible financial effects prompted four of five board members (Deutschman dissented) to table approval of the $1.7-million Crystal River High School master site plan. The board approved moving forward with the project's first phase, which includes a softball field and tennis courts to replace what was already demolished at the school, new parking and other athletic facilities. Board member Patience Nave voiced strong concerns about moving forward with any major capital spending until more details were known about the impact of the amendments. She repeated her concerns when the board was preparing to approve a construction manager for the Crystal River Middle School project. Nave is a strong supporter of long-range planning and a member of the committee that proposed all the latest construction projects. But she said the district needed to take a very careful approach. "I know we need to address these issues," she said. "I'm just asking that we not commit ourselves to do anything more than what we have the money for." -- Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or 564-3621.
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