Growing pains

Over each of the next four years, the Manatee County School District estimates 800 new students will enroll in its public schools.

To accommodate the growing student body, the school district hopes to begin building three new schools — one elementary, middle and high school — in 2018 and 2019, one of which is likely to be an East County high school. 

The district is eyeing Parrish and west Bradenton for the other schools.

Superintendent Rick Mills said that East County is one of the largest and fastest growing areas in Manatee County.

“Lakewood Ranch and north and eastern parts of the county are possibilities for the schools’ locations,” Mills said. “We can’t say for sure where or if the schools will be built because we aren’t there yet with funding.”

Mills estimated a price tag of more than $150 million to construct all three schools — an amount the district can’t afford without making changes to how it collects and spends tax dollars. Officials discussed a possible millage increase and also asking voters to extend a half-cent sales tax that’s scheduled to expire in 2017 during their April 8 meeting.

Already, both of East County’s high schools are feeling growing pains.

Braden River High School’s enrollment jumped from 1,446 students in the 2013-14 school year to 1,942 students in the 2014-15 school year. It added three portables and hired additional staff members over the last year to bulk up the facility’s resources and accommodate an increasing enrollment trend.

Lakewood Ranch High School’s population is nearly 2,300, an increase of 200 from last school year. Classes are reaching capacity, especially in elective courses. Teachers told the East County Observer in the fall that they are picking up extra class periods and are making their nights and weekends their planning periods.

The growth of the student body reflects the population hike that East County has experienced in recent years.

According to the 2010 U.S. census, East County zip codes, such as 34219, 34211, 34212 and 34202, reflect mostly increases in population, from Parrish to Lakewood Ranch from 2000 to 2010 — the most recent census available.

Ranch residents total 19,816 — a spike of 29.22% since 2000 — while other sections of East County rose by more than 11.27% over the last seven years. 

“It’s an appealing area,” Mills said. “People want to live in our county, especially out east.”

Payment plan

To fund three new schools, the district would need to obtain bonds — but first, it will have to improve its credit rating after what officials described as years of financial mismanagement and overspending, at an April 8 meeting with education officials.

Although the district has balanced its budget from a deficit of more than $8 million, its needs exceed its financial capabilities.

“Education is underfunded in this state,” Mills said at the meeting. “Our current revenue isn’t sufficient to meet our needs as a district. We don’t have money to do things we really need to do.”

To fund the district’s range of needs, including the construction of new schools, officials discussed revenue options in the form of increased property taxes and the renewal of the sales tax levy, which is set to expire in 2017.

Both options would require voter approval and won’t be implemented until 2017, School District CFO Rebecca Roberts said.

If the sales tax expires, it will cost the district $30 million per year.

Based on current operational needs, if the school district doesn’t change anything and lets the sales tax expire, the district’s costs will exceed its revenue by $62 million per year for the next four years, Roberts said.

District officials said they hope to work with the community to pass the sales tax and increase the millage for what they called the “common goal” of providing better educational opportunities and facilities to students. 

A 1 mill increase and budget cuts are necessary to balance the budget for fiscal year 2016, she added. District officials didn’t comment on what types of “hard spending cuts” are in the district’s future, should it fund the more than $42 million it estimated for basic operating needs.

 “If we don’t find ways to make money for our district, these numbers won’t tell a positive story,” Roberts said. 

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].

"Education is underfunded in this state. Our current revenue isn’t sufficient to meet our needs as a district. We don't have money to do things we really need to do."

– Mill Ricks, superintendant