WE MUST SAVE BREVARD’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS, STAND STRONG TOGETHER

 

The Brevard County School Board is preparing to close four schools and to make as-yet unnamed “painful” cuts to programs and services. The exceptional educational outcomes and consistent high marks achieved by Brevard Public School’s teachers, administrators and students have set a standard of excellence that has successfully attracted new businesses and families to our county. Irreversible cuts such as shuttering high-performing schools jeopardize not only the continued success of schools and students, but is a bet against our area’s growth and economic outlook.

 

We bet on Brevard. We bet on our schools, our teachers, our children, and our community to support them. We cannot allow high-performing schools to be closed, classrooms to be overcrowded, experienced or newly-trained teachers to be lost to other areas, vital programs to be eliminated, school choices to be reduced or eliminated, or school calendars that supports continuous learning to be revised.

 

We cannot allow our children to get lost in the shuffle. We ask the school board to refrain from making decisions as impactful and divisive as those proposed without permitting the electorate to vote with a clearer understanding of the urgency of the financial situation.

 

We, the undersigned, being citizens for Brevard County, Florida, call on the School Board to hold a Special Election in November 2013. We stand ready, willing and able to advocate for the passage of the following two items:

 

o An ad valorem .25 property millage

Suggested language - Shall the Brevard County School District ad valorem millage of one-quarter mill per year be continued effective July 1, 2013 and ending four fiscal years later on June 30, 2017, for necessary operating expenses including funds to recruit and retain quality teachers; preserve reading programs and music and art classes; and provide up-to-date textbooks and technology, with oversight of these expenditures by an independent citizens financial oversight committee?

 

AND

 

o A quarter-cent sales surtax

Suggested language - Shall the Brevard County School Board levy a one-quarter cent sales surtax beginning January 1, 2014, for a period of ten (10) years unless property tax assessments return to the 2008-09 level, to fund the implementation, upgrading, retrofitting and equipping of all schools with technology; and to finance educational facilities, construction, reconstruction, remodeling and renovations, land acquisition and improvement for the Brevard County School District?

 

Combined these taxes would generate ~ 24 million in revenues to enable our existing schools to be maintained at today's excellent standard. While the added funds would not fill the entirety of the budget deficit estimated by district staff, we feel certain that if the board works with the community and local leaders who have offered support, budget-reduction measures can be identified that would not require schools closures, crowded classrooms, or deep program cuts.

 

We firmly believe that the failure of the half-cent sales surtax was not a mandate to close schools and slash programs. We respectfully request the opportunity to vote for our community, our schools and our children.

 

School Board Members - Vote for a 2013 Special Election and, together, we can save our schools!