Brevard Public Schools - A great value for county residents

By Dr. Richard A. DiPatri, Superintendent

As savvy consumers, we are always looking for the highest quality at the lowest possible price. This may be true for cars and other tangible items, but it is also true for the public schools in Brevard. As a taxpayer, you need to know that the funds allocated to Brevard Public Schools are being spent wisely with outstanding results.

Our School Board is to be congratulated for its conscientiousness when prioritizing funds spent in our schools. The Board has long had a policy of targeting expenditures to where we need funds the most – in the classroom. Currently, Brevard Public Schools expenditures rank 1^st out of 67 counties in classroom spending and 66^th out of 67 counties in district administrative spending.

Recently, the Brevard County School Board passed a $566 million operating budget for 84 schools, 14 alternative centers and 13 charter schools. These funds, which are linked directly to the objectives in our First in Florida strategic plan, are essential to achieving student success. The success of the First in Florida plan is evident, since 95% of our schools are A or B schools, and we rank in the top six districts in the state on 19 of 22 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) measures. Despite this outstanding record, the School Board reiterated its commitment to allocating its resources to the classroom by adopting as one of its five priorities for 2006-07; “CONTINUE TO LEAD THE STATE IN THE PERCENTAGE OF DISTRICT FUNDS SPENT IN THE CLASSROOM.”

In addition, the School Board adopted a $715 million capital budget last year which outlines a Seven-Year Facilities Plan to bring our schools into the 21^st century. The plan, which includes building seven new schools in seven years, is already in its second year of implementation. Under the plan, all of our older schools in the district will be upgraded with new infrastructure and will be retrofitted to meet the growing demands of changing technology. Every school in the district will be impacted by the funds from the facilities plan.

Even the impact fees adopted by Brevard County are being allocated wisely. Impact fees are charges to new residential developments to reimburse local governments and school boards for the capital cost of public education facilities needed to serve the residents who occupy the new development. By collecting impact fees from the new residential developments, the County Commission and the School Board have helped to mitigate the impact that new residents place on taxpayers. Impact fees help offset the costs of providing new schools for the additional students.

Evidence also shows that school impact fees collected for Brevard Public Schools are the lowest in the Central Florida area. The school impact fee for a single family detached home in Brevard is $4,445, for all residential attached is $2,794, and for manufactured homes is $2,667. In comparison, for a single family detached home in neighboring counties such as Orange, new residents pay $7,000; in Osceola they pay $8,023; and in Seminole $5,342. That is a range of 17% to 45% more than in Brevard.

Warren Buffet, an American Investment Entrepreneur, once stated “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” In summary, the School Board delivers the best quality education at the lowest price.