The School Board hasn't started crafting a campaign to win voter approval on Nov. 2 for a property tax increase.
By MONIQUE FIELDS
Published August 18, 2004
With only 11 weeks before the vote, the Pinellas County School Board isn't sure how to proceed with its referendum to boost teacher pay.
There is no campaign chairman, no specific plan for spending the money raised by the proposed property tax increase and no idea how much money, if any, the district should invest in the effort.
It also is unclear how the money would be divided between teacher salaries and other programs. Or whether the district will spend all of the money in a lump sum or over a series of years.
The School Board did agree on one thing at a Tuesday workshop: It should take another vote on the referendum to show that it endorses the measure. Members said the previous vote was simply to put the issue on the Nov. 2 ballot.
The board will meet again Thursday to talk about the issues.
School officials say the district needs additional revenue to avoid future deficits, provide teacher raises and offset rising health care costs. The referendum asks voters to increase the district's property tax rate by 50 cents on every $1,000 of assessed valuation. The tax would expire in four years unless voters renewed it.
If passed, it would raise about $26-million annually, which would be used primarily to bring teacher salaries in line with the national average. Pinellas salaries now hover around $40,000 annually, about $6,000 less than the national benchmark. The measure also would provide money for various programs, including reading, music and art.
But the board kept getting stuck Tuesday on unanswered questions.
Nancy Bostock, the lone dissenter on the vote to put the tax to a referendum, wanted to know how much money and what type of resources the district would commit to the campaign.
"I want it defined for myself - for the public - how much resources we're going to spend," she said. "Set those limits and stick to them."
Another issue is who will run the campaign. The School Board wants to be in the background, as do teachers. But a citizens panel hasn't taken the lead.
Some campaign work is taking place behind the scenes. A political action committee has been formed, and builder and civic leader Alan Bomstein, attorney Ed Armstrong and former Pinellas superintendent Scott Rose have said they will help, said Jade Moore, executive director of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association.
Moore said organizers have approached a few people to be chairman of the campaign and "have been turned down by some of the finest citizens in our community," Moore said.
Meanwhile, time is slipping away.
Pasco County officials decided in September 2003 to place a one-cent sales tax increase on a March 9, 2004, ballot. Their campaign was a success. With only 11 weeks until Election Day on Nov. 2 in Pinellas, the pressure is on.
"We haven't done the work part," said board member Mary Russell. "We keep taking votes at the table. We have work to do."
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MAKEUP DAY FOR SCHOOLS? Pinellas County schools likely will make up a missed school day because of Hurricane Charley by having one less scheduled staff development day, superintendent Howard Hinesley said Tuesday.
Hinesley said he wasn't sure when the district would make up the day, but officials will provide the plan to the state Department of Education. The district may hold off for a while to see whether it needs to make up more days.
The hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.
Times staff writer Rebecca Catalanello contributed to this report.
