THE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT AND THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL.
Pursuant to Section 163.3177, F.S., the School Board of Broward County is proposing changes to the Interlocal Agreement for Public School Facility Planning (ILA) to address projected level of service deficiencies resulting from shortfalls in school construction funding.
In 2010, the Broward County Level of Service Standard was revised from 110% permanent capacity (i.e. fixed buildings) to 100% gross capacity (i.e. including portables). This 100% gross capacity standard will expire at the beginning of the 2018/19 School Year. The School Board has determined that maintaining 100% gross capacity is no longer desirable, because the District is not permitted to construct additional capacity using State funds due to excess capacity Districtwide, which leaves school boundary changes as the only remaining mechanism to bring schools into compliance.
Recognizing the need for an alternative to the 100% gross capacity standard, School District staff has worked collaboratively with Broward County and the municipalities through the School Board's Oversight Committee and Staff Working Group to develop an amendment to the proposed level of service standard. The Third Amendment and Restated ILA (Exhibit 1) amends the level of service standard to the higher of: 100% gross capacity or 110% permanent capacity, depending on school type at each of the District’s bounded public schools. The Florida Department of Education and Florida Department of Economic Opportunity concur that Section 163.3180(6), Florida Statutes, provides for a school district and its partner local governments to define school types in the manner that reflects local conditions for the purpose of establishing a uniform, districtwide level-of-service standard for public schools of the same type.
This amended ILA also includes minor revisions to outdated statutory references, and certain procedures and time frames to address unanticipated implementation issues (Exhibit 3). It should be noted that this amendment would reduce, but not eliminate, all level of service deficiencies in the District.
The proposed amendment was approved by the School Board, on June 13, 2017. However, it would only become effective if approval is also obtained from the Board [Broward County Commission] and at least 75% of the Municipalities which include at least 50% of the population within Broward County (at least 21 of the 37 Municipal Signatories).
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