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Nobody can accuse the Pasco School District of skimping on the details.
One of the frequently mentioned public gripes about a proposed sales tax referendum is the lack of specificity about where the proceeds will be spent. Friday, Superintendent John Long, his assistant Chuck Rushe, and Ray Gadd, the district's point person on the Penny for Pasco initiative, attempted to quell that unrest by unveiling the district's 10-year, $858-million capital program.
Of that, roughly 20 percent is to be paid for with the sales tax proceeds, projected at almost $197-million for the district over the 10-year life of the tax. The spending plan also includes impact fees, state aid, loans and local property taxes adjusted for the anticipated quarter-mill reduction in the school district's levy.
Nearly $449-million is set aside exclusively for new schools: 11 elementary, five middle and four high schools. Two of the elementary schools already are planned for west Pasco and will be financed with state money allocated to implement the class-size amendment.
The list is not complete. Even after the massive building program, the district would need five additional schools to meet the class-size requirements mandated in the voter-approved constitutional amendment. Funding for those schools is not identified. It is an imperative point, since critics contend the district has enough existing resources to handle school construction.
The costs are high, but not excessive. New elementary schools now carry $12-million price tags, yet the Pasco district routinely is rewarded by the state for building affordable schools. And waiting only drives up the expenses because of the inflationary costs associated with the building industry boom.
The district also attempted to answer the often-asked inquiry, What's in it for me? Improvements are planned at the 59 existing schools, ranging from covered walkways at the just-opened Pineview Elementary in Land O'Lakes to $12.4-million worth of renovations at Stewart Middle School in Zephyrhills, a structure built in 1926. The planned renovations were developed with input from parents and school advisory councils, a smart move to ensure local concerns aren't ignored.
The building program is needed to meet demands from a student population growing by 2,500 children annually, to reduce the number of students (currently 7,000) housed in portable classrooms, and to modernize aging facilities.
Without approval of the sales tax referendum, the School Board will have to devise nearly $200-million in construction cuts. That is the equivalent of eliminating all four new high schools. Though such cuts would be spread around, voter rejection of the referendum increases the likelihood of double sessions.
"I think it will be inevitable in a number of schools," Long predicted.
Double sessions squeeze twice the use out of existing facilities, but are an unattractive option. Double sessions increase maintenance expenses, reduce the amount of teaching time by approximately one hour a day, curtail extracurricular activities and frequently result in children being left home unattended.
Naysayers will note that the district avoided double sessions after voters rejected a sales tax referendum in 1995. Except then the district built new schools after it borrowed $131-million and received a $40-million windfall when the Legislature agreed to float bonds against future lottery proceeds. Those options are no longer available. It also is worth noting the school-building boom failed to reduce the number of portable classrooms around Pasco County.
"I think this (sales tax increase) is almost the only alternative left for us," said Long.
Under Penny for Pasco, the county and school district split 90 percent of the proceeds with the six cities dividing the remainder. More work remains. Pasco County is not expected to finalize its project list until December and haggling over the language on the March ballot must be cleared up in the next few weeks.
Still, skeptics can no longer rationalize their objections by saying they didn't know where the school money is going.
Details of the proposed expenditures can be found at: http://www.sptimes.com/2003/10/11/Pasco/25_new_schools_tops_d.shtml