- April 26, 2024
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In hopes of being better prepared for fiscal challenges, the Flagler County School Board plans to start its budget discussions for the 2014-2015 school year earlier.
“I want to start budget talks earlier,” School Board member Trevor Tucker said as a board meeting was concluding Tuesday. “That way, if we have to do something drastic like rezoning, we’ll have time.”
His suggestion was met with enthusiasm by the rest of the board.
“Obviously, we know where we’re at as far as our income is concerned,” board member Sue Dickinson said, adding that rezoning the district into K-8 centers might prevent the board from needing to close schools, but that such changes would need time to be implemented.
In January, the School Board decided to switch to K-8 schools, rather than separate elementary and middle schools, within five years. But in May, the board held a series of emergency budget workshops to decide how to act in case a proposed 0.5 mill property tax failed during a special election in June. That tax failed after 57% of voters rejected it.
During those emergency discussions, the board considered closing schools to make up for the money that would be lost. However, as the conversation progressed, it became apparent that the district, whose schools are currently operating below their capacity, might close one or two school buildings regardless of the election turnout.
“We’re still probably going to need to look at closing a school in the next year or two,” School Board member Colleen Conklin said in May.
If the district were to close Wadsworth Elementary School and Indian Trails Middle School, it would delegate some of Wadsworth’s buildings to the adjacent Buddy Taylor Middle School. That way, all students would fit in the schools still open, at a savings of about $3.9 million.
Janet Valentine, the district’s superintendent, said such discussions should wait until the first day of school so that the board can work from real student enrollment numbers rather than projected student enrollment numbers.
“I know we’re projecting a declining enrollment, but that may or may not happen,” Valentine said. “We will bring back the discussions we started this last spring and move forward the day school opens.”
