SPECIAL WORK SESSION, THE
SCHOOL BOARD OF BREVARD COUNTY
March 23, 2005
The School Board of Brevard County, Florida held a workshop on Tuesday, March 23, 2005, at 3:00 p.m., at the Educational Services Facility, 2700 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida. Notice of the meeting was advertised in Florida Today newspaper on Thursday, March 17, 2005, and the affidavit of publication with a copy of the notice attached is filed in supplemental minute book #204, page 204-611.
Chairman
Larry Hughes called the workshop to order at 3:04 p.m. and led the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Members Present:
Larry Hughes, Robert Jordan, Janice Kershaw, Bea Fowler, Amy Kneessy
OPENING COMMENTS
Dr. DiPatri welcomed the group and noted that this
workshop had been requested by the board to look at zero based budgeting but
that a decision had been made to look at the current budget process before
looking at modifying. He briefly reviewed
the agenda before turning the meeting over to Judy Preston, Associate
Superintendent for Financial Services. A
copy of the agenda is filed in supplemental minute book #204, Page 204-612.
CURRENT BUDGET PROCESS
Judy Preston presented a slide presentation,
beginning where she had left off at the workshop held on January 6, 2005. A revised budget information book was
distributed to the board and staff members, a copy of which can be found in the
Financial Services or School Board offices.
Ms. Preston explained that the three biggest decisions made in preparing
a budget are staffing, what is pay, and how many students there are. Her presentation focused on the operating
budget and she reviewed a pie chart on expenditures by category. She indicated that the budget process is an
all-year task with planning in the fall, guide in the winter, hear from
community in the spring and adopt the budget during the summer. Ms. Preston also reviewed a sample budget
calendar, a sample school budget worksheet, and historical analysis of student
growth compared to staff growth. Other
items of discussion, per questions from board members included:
She also announced that she had just received word
this morning that Brevard is number one in what the district spends in the
classroom.
IMPACT FEES &
ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY
Ed Curry, Assistant Superintendent for Facilities
Management Services, reviewed documentation prepared and provided to the Board
at the March 22, 2005 board meeting.
This documentation is background information on the County establishing
impact fees for public elementary and secondary educational facilities and
contains information on the fee credit agreement between the Board and The
Viera Company. The documentation also
contains two questions of the Board on whether they should establish a policy
requiring developers to waive impact fee credits and whether the Board should
set a priority for spending these funds for land acquisition. Larry Hughes suggested the Board request
staff to develop a plan to submit to the Board for discussion. Janice Kershaw requested additional
information on what other counties are doing with their credits. Amy Kneessy stated she did not want to see
developers automatically excluded and suggested each situation be taken
separately. She stated she was opposed
to a policy on no impact fee credits.
Dr. DiPatri stated that staff did not know they
would have to repay the money to the Viera Company. He also noted that the Palm Bay land was offered as a flat
donation before impact fees were established and that he felt the developer has
misled the district. He also informed
the Board that staff was in the process of drafting a letter to the City of
Palm Bay asking for a property exchange for the district owned Wyoming Street
site. Discussion was held the
possibility of buying the property for $1.00, including the City and YMCA in
the agreement, and concerns on environmental issues.
There being no further discussion, the workshop
adjourned at 5:05 p.m.
Chairman:
______________________________
ATTEST: ______________________________________
Secretary and Superintendent of Schools