School Board member Chris Cowart gave the board an update activity on the Florida Legislature. He said the current session may be extended.

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Levy County School Board member Chris Cowart said Tuesday the board is keeping its fingers crossed as the leaders of the Florida Legislature meet behind closed doors to discuss big-ticket items like funding for the new Chiefland Middle High School and teacher raises.

            Cowart, the legislative expert on the school board, said he is staying in touch with State Sen. Rob Bradley by text. Bradley is chairman of the Senate appropriations committee, the most powerful committee in the Senate and he also represents Levy County.

            Efforts by Spotlight to reach Bradley or one of his staff members were unsuccessful on Monday and Tuesday. Cowart said Bradley is one of four legislative leaders negotiating out of view on key pieces of legislation important to Levy County.

            School Construction Funding

            As for special facilities school funding, Cowart said he hasn’t heard anything negative about funding for the Chiefland school project and it should be on track as best he can tell, but he said Senate and House leaders have “gone dark” in their discussions, meaning they are meeting in private, which means it’s impossible to gauge what’s happening behind the scenes.

            Virus Could Impact Revenues

            The 2019 Novel Coronavirus, or Covid 19, has added a degree of uncertainty to revenue projections. Cowart said several large conferences have been cancelled in Florida as a result of the Covid-19 and senators want to make sure they are projecting revenues accurately as they look at their spending for next year.

            Teacher Raise Pending

            A bill that could raise teacher annual salaries to $47,000 is also on hold as House and Senate leaders meet to decide whether the raise can be funded and at what level. The House and Senate are not in agreement on how much money should be allocated for the pay raises.

            Term Limits Uncertain

            A bill that would place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot imposing term limits on school board members hasn’t been approved by the full Senate. It has been approved by the House. Cowart said the battle to determine if the constitutional amendment goes on the ballot is being waged along party lines.

            Cowart said there are 24 members in the Florida Senate, including 17 Republicans. Senate Republicans support school board term limits. Democrats are opposed. The bill would need the support of 18 senators to reach the November ballot, which means one Democrat would have to support the legislation. The bill would limit school board members to eight additional years on the board before they would be forced into retirement. Cowart said board members who have served at least eight years would get two additional terms on the board if the amendment is approved by voters.

            Cowart is also worried about how much overall funding the school district will receive from the legislature. He said the per-student allocation is expected to be increased by $18 but the increase in state revenue would be wiped out by other costs imposed by the state. The school board will wind up losing money.

            Monitoring Covid-19

            Superintendent Jeff Edison said the school district is staying in touch with state and federal officials about the Covid-19. He said the district isn’t testing for the virus. He said if testing is carried out it would be handled by the Levy County Health Department.

            “Right now there is a very minimal threat to our students,” Edison said.

            Edison said the virus can only be transmitted by having contact with an infected person. He said there have been 14 confirmed cases in Florida among 22 million residents, which is a low rate of infection. The Levy County School District hasn’t seen any Covid-19 cases among its students or faculty.

            Edison said the Levy County Emergency Management website, levydisaster.com has up-to-date information on Covid-19. At the top of the website is a link to a Florida Department of Health website with the latest information on the virus.

            The website says there have been two deaths in Florida from Covid-19; 155 pending test results; 222 negative test results; 319 people currently being monitored; and a total of 1,161 people monitored statewide.

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School Board of Levy County Regular Meeting March 10, 2020; Posted March 10, 2020