The Manatee County School Board took initial steps toward establishing a financial oversight committee to monitor the district’s budgeting during its board workshop on Tuesday afternoon.
Board Chairman Scott Hopes said getting more eyes on the district’s budget was vital to restoring public faith in the district’s finances. He also said getting such a committee in place by Feb. 1 would help with the looming property tax special election in March.
“It’s not that there may be any misuse of funds,” Hopes said, referring to previously collected tax revenue. “But what we are hearing, I believe, is the public would like us to be more transparent and report out how we are applying those funds and how we are using those funds to address problems.”
While the workshop ended with board consensus to move forward, Hopes faced several questions from fellow board members on his individual pursuit of a committee, rather than waiting on a board decision.
Board member Dave Miner said he had been approached by citizens who had told him they were asked by Hopes to be on the committee.
“I’ve been told by some people that they have been asked to be on the finance committee,” Miner said. “There is no finance committee. No one has the authority to ask anyone to be on a finance committee. Any committee has to be established by the board, not an individual.”
Hopes’ choice to recruit two politically connected leaders — developer Pat Neal and supervisor of elections Mike Bennett — led to questions over how effective the panel could be.
Neal’s role on the committee would likely be problematic to Hopes’ fellow board members. As one of the largest developers in the region, former state senator Neal has a complex relationship with the district. His firm pays millions in impact fees to the school district each year, and he lobbied heavily against raising the fees in recent years.
Hopes has previously said he envisions a committee with 9 to 11 members with his four fellow board members each appointing one member and him appointing the remaining seats.
Vice chair Gina Messenger said a group of “political appointees” handpicked by individual board members would not have the faith of the public, and any perceived conflict of interest would taint the committee’s work.
“I really have such a strong amount of disdain for groups like that,” Messenger said. “I bring up conflicts of interest because the audit committee has validity that it does because they don’t have conflicts of interest and because they are chosen based purely on their strengths, background, degree.”
Hopes also wants the district to revamp its budgeting process, instituting a zero-based process in which programs are "sunset annually and department heads must defend planned expenses.
“Budgets appear to be based on prior expenses,” Hopes said.
Superintendent Diana Greene said all departments must justify their annual budgets and ensure they align with district goals. She said she welcomed the prospect of a finance oversight committee because she wants more citizens to understand how the district creates its annual budget.
The board will discuss the finance committee at the next meeting at Manatee Technical College on Jan. 23.
Rezoning
Several dozen residents came to Tuesday night’s meeting for a public hearing on rezoning three of the district’s high schools. With the opening of North River High School in Parrish in 2019, the board had planned to vote on a rezoning plan Tuesday night that would have rezoned attendance maps for Palmetto, Braden River and Lakewood Ranch high schools.
Most residents spoke in opposition to three proposed maps, and many want the school board to rezone the entire district to avoid having to repeat the process in a few years. Greene said there is no new high school planned for the next five years.
The board delayed a vote on the redistricting in order to get more information and allow more time for public input.
“Those boundaries will be there long after we are gone, and I want to make sure we do it right,” board member Charlie Kennedy said.
The board will continue the conversation at a workshop on Feb. 13 at Manatee Technical College, and Hopes said another public forum will follow.
Dispute with Lincoln Memorial Middle
The School Board is headed into mediation with leaders from Lincoln Memorial Middle School as the sides seek a resolution in a dispute over Lincoln Memorial’s conversion to a charter school, district general counsel Mitch Teitelbaum told the board.
Both sides are staking claim to two buildings on Lincoln’s property that the district has used for district-wide administrative purposes for several years. Teitelbaum said the board had approved Lincoln’s charter in August with the caveat that the district retained use of the two buildings. Teitelbaum said Lincoln’s leaders were using the buildings as a bargaining chip to force the district to give them school buses.
“The district entered contractual negotiations, not bartering,” Teitelbaum said. “I consider that nothing less than strong-arm tactics.”
Lincoln principal Eddie Hundley envisions transforming two buildings currently used as the school district’s Office of Student Assignment and the Student Evaluation Center into sports and leadership training facilities.
“I don’t know what the dispute would be. That stuff gets inventoried to Lincoln,” Hundley said. “What’s the dispute? Do they think they are still staying there? There is no dispute there. Statute takes care of this.”
At the time the board approved Lincoln’s conversion to a charter school Hopes sharply questioned Lincoln’s finances.