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Schools

Candidates can't agree on growth

All nine School Board hopefuls admit that the issue is crucial, but they differ on how to address it.

By LETITIA STEIN
Published August 22, 2006

TAMPA - While campaigning recently, School Board candidate April Griffin was asked to name the most important issue facing Hillsborough County schools.

"My answer was growth, growth and growth - and funding for that growth," she said.

The nine candidates for School Board agree that growth is a crucial issue. But there is little unanimity on how best to handle the student influx that has transformed Hillsborough into the nation's ninth-largest school district.

Consider school impact fees. At the School Board's request, a divided County Commission recently agreed to raise the fee on a typical new home from $196 to $4,000.

All the School Board candidates say they support higher impact fees. But several wish the increase had been less dramatic.

"It was a little too much, too soon," said Ken Allen, the director of adult and community education who is seeking election countywide in District 6.

"I was hoping they would not have to be that large," said Dave Schmidt, another District 6 contender and a program manager for workforce education in Hillsborough. "We're going to be paying for past sins. Those impact fees should have been raised years ago."

*  *  *

The candidates' differences deepen over the best way to address a $198-million shortfall in construction projects the district says it needs but can't afford over the next five years.

That estimate doesn't account for the money that will be generated by higher impact fees. And if growth continues to slow, as appears to be the case this school year, the need for new schools could change.

School Board member Candy Olson, seeking a fourth term in District 2, proposes spending impact fees visibly, so people can see where the money is going.

"Then if growth continues, we may have go to back to the voters, which I do not want to do," said Olson, noting her concern over the more than $1-billion in debt the district has amassed building new schools. "Any more debt makes me nervous."

Earlier this year, School Board members floated a proposal to ask voters this fall for a half-cent sales tax increase. They tabled the idea after the county agreed to raise impact fees. But it could return. If it does, Olson is interested in exploring whether voters would help pay for construction and better teacher salaries.

Now several challengers - most making their first race for School Board - share the opinion that wasteful spending practices contributed to the funding problem.

"We've got an accountability problem and a spending problem," said Stephanie Desmarais Georgiades, a parent and former teacher in District 6.

Griffin, another District 6 candidate, suggested saving money by frequent reuse of architectural plans. And she thinks the district could save long-term by hiring qualified professionals, rather than promoting from within, a practice that she says too often creates problems that require hiring outside consultants.

"We need to be better stewards of the taxpayers' dollars if we are going to gain trust from them," said Griffin, who has two children in Hillsborough schools. "In the future, if we have to go and ask them for more money to close the shortfall, they will trust us."

*  *  *

The School Board's approach to growth hinges on smart planning. But most of the candidates say the district has failed in that area in recent years.

Some point to last year's community outcry when the district redrew boundaries for schools in northwest Hillsborough. Students from packed schools were assigned to nearby campuses with empty seats.

The situation reflected bad planning, said candidate Logan Cobb, a Plant High School senior who is seeking election to the School Board in District 2.

"We're kind of in a hole," he said. "It's a hole that the current School Board has dug us into with the fact that they're dealing with problems retroactively."

Bart Birdsall, a media specialist also running in District 2, questioned the qualifications of people in key jobs. He noted that superintendent MaryEllen Elia, who previously headed the facilities division, rose through the ranks from the role of a reading specialist.

"Hire qualified professionals in positions such as these," he said, "so planning is always at the forefront and we are not having to clean up messes like the current situation."

School Board member Jennifer Faliero says the district has made significant strides. But there is still room for improvement, particularly in planning that involves the county.

She touted Hillsborough's role in piloting a new growth management law. A key piece is designed to link approvals for new development to the availability of schools.

"It's very important that people know that the Board of County Commissioners approves permits, and that they now have the tools in their toolkit to make sure that infrastructure is in place before building is approved," said Faliero, seeking a second term in east Hillsborough's District 4. "We now will have a say."

District 4 opponent Hunter Gambrell, a special education attendant at Plant City High School, said the lack of past planning has created a massive problem today.

"Now it's upon us," he said. "It's an issue we must address, and we must do it by getting more fiscally responsible."

Letitia Stein can be reached at lstein@sptimes.com or 813 226-3400.

[Last modified August 22, 2006, 05:47:50]