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Schools

Board leans toward keeping vocational center open

School Board members emphasized that their sentiments were just to get a "sense of the board." The final vote on the $22-million budget cut is set for March 14.

By THOMAS C. TOBIN
Published March 3, 2006

LARGO - A strong lobbying effort by supporters of the Seminole Vocational Education Center appears to have had an impact as the Pinellas School Board scans its budget for deep cuts.

Six of seven board members indicated at a workshop Thursday that they were not inclined to close the center, which houses a number of programs for students at Largo, Osceola and Seminole high schools.

They emphasized, however, that their sentiments were only part of an exercise to get a "sense of the board." They said they are far from making a final decision.

Dozens of supporters have sent the board e-mails in recent weeks to make their case for keeping the school. Many of them packed the board's meeting Tuesday night.

Superintendent Clayton Wilcox has proposed closing the center to save about $1.6-million, saying students could find similar programs elsewhere in the district. It is one of about 30 areas that he and top administrators selected for potential cuts as they try to pare the district's operating budget by $22-million.

Officials say the cuts are needed to restore the district's fiscal health after years of spending beyond its means. Annual allotments from the state have not kept pace with inflation, health insurance, fuel expenses and the cost of state mandates, Pinellas officials say.

So far, School Board members have asked Wilcox dozens of questions and talked at length about what they don't want to cut. They appear far from making any firm decisions with only one more meeting left before March 14, when they are scheduled to vote on the cuts. The remaining meeting, an all-day workshop, is on Tuesday.

Though reached informally, the consensus for keeping the Seminole vocational center appears strong. At the end of a morning meeting on the budget, board chairwoman Carol Cook asked members to list on index cards any cuts proposed by Wilcox that they strongly opposed.

All but one, Janet Clark, listed the center on their cards.

Seminole Vocational offers classes in carpentry, commercial art, computer networking, horticulture, veterinary assisting and other fields. It also is home to a petting farm, a favorite field trip destination for Pinellas elementary schools.

Several board members - including Linda Lerner and Mary Russell, both of Seminole - also showed support for the center during discussions Thursday. Lerner said she had wanted to expand the center before it came up in budget discussions.

"I'm in favor of taking it off the list today," said Russell. "Let's just take it off the list and just settle that community."

The rest of the board was unwilling to go that far. But some members indicated the district should look to expand vocational programs, not reduce them.

The index card exercise also revealed that some board members oppose cuts to the district's maintenance staff and canceling a $3.6-million contract with a private firm, Community Education Partners, to run a school for middle and high school students with academic and discipline problems. The newly opened Oak Park School is in Pinellas Park.

Board members also suggested budget cuts that are not on Wilcox's list. Among them: deeper cuts in the district's transportation department and reducing travel expenses.

[Last modified March 3, 2006, 02:15:34]