Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Charter Schools topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lake Wales charter superintendent asks CRA to back bills that would ease capital outlay access for conversion schools
Summary
Julie Conrad of the Lake Wales Charter School System asked the Community Redevelopment Agency to contact legislators in support of Senate Bill 1704 and House Bill 1437, saying five local conversion charter schools occupy Polk County Public Schools buildings and face deferred maintenance that state capital outlay could cover.
Julie Conrad, superintendent of the Lake Wales Charter School System, told the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency on Feb. 10 that she is asking the board to support Florida Senate Bill 1704 and House Bill 1437, legislation that would affect capital outlay eligibility for conversion charter schools.
Conrad said the Lake Wales system operates five conversion charter schools whose buildings are owned by Polk County Public Schools and that the schools have faced deferred maintenance on major items such as roofs and other renovations. "Every dollar that could be coming to us from capital outlay will go right back into instruction," she said, adding that current capital outlay funds are often spent on transportation, technology infrastructure and other items rather than large capital projects.
The request drew an immediate contextual clarification from Chair Robin Gibson, who noted that capital outlay dollars are allocated to the district that owns the property. "Every dollar that goes into those capital maintenance goes to the school board because the school board owns the property," Gibson said, and emphasized that the funding would be applied to facilities owned by Polk County Public Schools in Lake Wales.
Conrad said the bills have been a local focus and asked the commission to contact state legislators to support Senate Bill 1704 and House Bill 1437. The meeting record does not show a formal action by the CRA on the request; no motion or vote on a resolution of support is recorded in the transcript.
If enacted as described in the hearing, supporters say the bills would change how conversion charter schools can access capital outlay funds; the CRA discussion focused on the local impact of such a change for Lake Wales school facilities and students.
The CRA did not take a formal vote on the request during the Feb. 10 meeting; Conrad concluded her remarks and the meeting proceeded to other agenda items.
