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LegislativeAgenda: Testing,Buses,ConstructionEducation
By Matt Reed, assistant superintendent government and community relations
Brevard Public Schools has made special requests to fund buses and vocational training and supports e orts by state senators to scale-back testing and assessments.
As the Florida Legislature continues its work, here’s a look at bills and appropriations that could impact Space Coast schools and services:
Testing and assessment
Bipartisan Senate Bill 964 would push back state testing until the end of the school year (instead of starting in February).
It would eliminate the Florida Standards Assessment test for ninth-grade language arts. It would halt end-of-course exams for algebra 2, geometry, U.S. history and civics. It would allow schools to switch to paper-and-pencil tests.
BPS Superintendent Desmond Blackburn served on the state superintendent association’s legislative panel, which helped craft the bill. State Sen. Debbie May eld, who represents Brevard County, is a key cosponsor.
A di erent bill in the House and Senate (HB 773, SB 926) would move testing to the end of the year and mandate a study of whether the ACT or SAT college-entrance exams could substitute for the FSA test.
CareerSource reports that 35 percent of current job openings are in the construction industry.
The money would pay for tools and equipment such as computers, sanders, drills, saws, drill presses, grinders, and pneumatic nailers. It also would pay for drafting software, curriculum and training for faculty and material such as lumber and nails.
The three programs are at Melbourne, Palm Bay Magnet and Astronaut High Schools.
Federal-impact aid
BPS is lobbying to continue to receive a supplement of
about $2.5 million a year as a federally connected student supplement. The money compensates for student demand driven by Brevard’s large, tax-exempt federal installations. Those include Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Patrick Air Force Base and a U.S. Navy submarine installation at Port Canaveral. The federal share of this aid
has gradually shrunk, and the state
of Florida has helped BPS keep pace with other Florida districts with a supplement that has made up the di erence. For 2016, the Legislature approved a supplement of about $2.1 million. However, conservatives in the House have targeted the money for cuts.
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Money for buses
disproportionately high transportation costs. Through the state funding formula, BPS receives just over $12.1 million for the cost of transporting students. However, the district’s annual cost is more than $18.9 million.
Our higher costs are due to:
• Brevard’s geographic situation of being 72 miles long with multiple water crossings.
• Brevard’s commitment to maximizing existing classroom space rather than building new schools.
• U.S. mandates to bus homeless students to their last assigned school zone.
Brevard has covered the $6.8 million di erence with operating funds that – in other districts -- could be applied to instruction. The request passed the House K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, whose members said they would like to revisit the funding formula for the sake of all counties.
More construction training
With May eld’s support, BPS has requested $500,000 to equip and modernize its three vocational programs for training students for jobs in construction. This comes in response to urgent recent feedback from builders and contractors regarding shortages of local labor in skilled construction trades. Florida
Only $30 per semester
April 2017
edConnect
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State
Rep. Tom Goodson, R-Cocoa, has requested $1.5 million to help BPS o set its
Brevard Adult education
call 321-633-3662 www.brevardadulted.com