School Board member Chris Cowart, who has close contacts with state legislators, said he believes prospects for obtaining state funding for the new Chiefland Middle HIgh Schhool are positive.

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            Levy County school officials managed to secure a number two ranking last week for state funding of the new Chiefland Middle High School.

            The ranking means the project is likely to receive funding from the Florida Legislature in the winter session coming up in January.

            Funding is not a sure thing, but the consensus of Levy County School Board members at Tuesday’s board meeting is that the Legislature generally uses ranking to decide who gets state school construction funding.

            State school construction dollars are known as special facilities funding.

            The school is to be constructed at the same location as the current CMHS along U.S. 19/98 at the intersection of U.S. 129 and U.S. 27A in the heart of the city.

            Board member Chris Cowart, the legislative go-to person on the school board, said the board must remain in contact with key state lawmakers to ensure the funding is part of the House and Senate budgets and the governor’s budget.

            Baker County’s replacement of an elementary school in an undesirable neighborhood was ranked number one for special facilities funding and Chiefland Middle High School was ranked number two.

            The legislature is also expected to fund the final phase of a renovation project for Gilchrist County schools.

            Lawmakers are also trying to dole out enough money to replace damaged school buildings in the Panhandle hit by Hurricane Michael last year.

            All in all, Cowart said he has confidence the legislature will fund the new school.

            “Being in the top two, I feel it’s very positive,” Cowart said.

            School Superintendent Jeff Edison said if the legislature funds the project in the coming session, which begins in January of next year, construction could begin after July 1, 2020.

            Cowart said he was told that Levy County’s presentation to the Florida Department of Education last Thursday was the best among all the schools present. Sheriff Bobby McCallum was among the speakers, noting that the current 48-acre school site, which has an estimated 21 buildings, is difficult to protect.

School safety is a hot issue in Tallahassee in the wake of the Valentine’s Day Massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland last year. Seventeen students and faculty were murdered and 17 injured when a lone gunman entered the school and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle. The killer was an expelled student.

             Legislative Priorities

            With the legislature cranking up its 2020 session in early next year, the school board voted to adopt its top three legislative priorities at the meeting.

            The number one legislative priority remains funding for the new Chiefland Middle High School.

            Second on the list is a request for the legislature to require the Florida Department of Education to conduct a study that would lead to “accommodations” on the Florida Assessment tests for students with disabilities. The state provides accommodations for disabilities in the classroom but not when taking state academic tests.

            School Board member Cameron Asbell said dyslexia is one of the disabilities for which the state provides no accommodation on tests. Dyslexia can result in numbers and letters being out of sequence when reading.

            Board members debated whether to continue pushing for the accommodation study, which is high priority with Asbell, or leave it alone because there appears to be no appetite in the legislature for the accommodation study.

            When it was first presented to the legislature last year, rumors circulated that it was a Levy County issue and not a statewide issue. School Board members say students with physical and learning disabilities are present throughout the state. The issue transcends political boundaries.

            The third priority is a request for the legislature to fully fund the safe schools requirements imposed on school districts last year. The legislature has yet to fully fund the requirement for placing a school resource deputy in each school and to harden school buildings for better student protection.

            Small school districts like Levy County are strapped for cash because of a weak property tax base, according to the school board.

            Discussion of the district’s legislative priorities was part of a public hearing. There were no members of the public present to make comments. The only members of the public at the meeting were three reporters and a roofing contractor.

            The school board has had little success in attracting members of the public to public hearings at night or in the mornings. This public hearing took place in the morning when people are working. There rarely are members of the public present for board meetings or hearings.

            Bus for Children’s Table

            The board voted to sell a surplus school bus to the Children’s Table for $2,000.

             William and Verna Brown founded The Children’s Table in 1996. They tear out the seats in the old school buses and use them for transporting food.

            The Children’s Table, based in Bronson, has distributed 27 million pounds of free food from Florida’s Farmers to tens of thousands of people. The Browns don’t place income requirements on people receiving food. The Browns don’t operate with government funding.

            No Raffles               

            School Board member Paige Brookins asked for clarification on whether student-sponsored raffles are allowed under the school district’s rules.

            Finance Director Kim Lake said club raffles involving money are considered gambling and are illegal in public schools under state statute.

            Unannounced Executive Session

            Board chairman Brad Etheridge announced at the end of the meeting that the board would meet for closed door executive session after the regular school board meeting adjourned. He did not state the purpose of the executive session. The private meeting was not listed on the school board agenda.

            Executive sessions are never recorded. No minutes are taken.

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School Board of Levy County Regular Meeting August 27, 2019; Posted August 28, 2019