CITY OF
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
TO: Mayor and City Commission
FROM: Ambreen
Bhatty, City Manager
BY:
DATE: December
8, 2009
SUBJECT: Resolution Supporting Amendment to Interlocal
Agreement for Public School Facilities Planning
Tonight we are requesting your consideration
of adopting the attached Resolution supporting an amendment to the Interlocal
Agreement for the Public School Facilities Planning in order to avoid the
currently proposed school boundary changes in Broward County and achieve
compliance.
Background
Pursuant to the requirements of Sections 163.3180(13) and 163.31777, Florida Statutes, Broward County, the Broward County School Board and the non-exempt municipalities entered into an Interlocal Agreement (ILA) for Public Schools Facilities Planning in 2007. The ILA adopted individual school boundaries as the Concurrency Service Area with a Level of Service standard of 110% permanent FISH capacity for those service areas. The Broward County School Board subsequently proposed various new facilities in the School Board’s Educational Plant Survey to make the ILA’s Concurrency Service Areas and Level of Service standards feasible. These facilities were rejected by the State. So in order to comply with the LOS, the School Board proposed boundary changes which would create a domino effect on schools throughout Broward County.
To avoid these massive boundary changes and to achieve compliance with the adopted plan, the Staff Working Group, an advisory committee, proposes to change the Concurrency Service Level from individual school boundaries to eight (8) Concurrency Service Areas each containing multiple school boundaries. This proposal is supported by the Broward League of Cities and, in an emergency meeting on Monday, November 30, by the Broward County School Board.
Tonight, you heard from Ms. Shelley Eichner, Chair of the Staff Working Group, explaining the purpose of the amendment to the ILA and its anticipated effects on Broward County. Attached please find a written overview provided by Ms. Eichner.
RECOMMENDATION:
The City Administration recommends Commission’s consideration and adoption of the attached resolution and authorization for the City Clerk to transmit the Resolution to the Broward League of Cities.
RESOLUTION NO.
____________________
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE,
FLORIDA, SUPPORTING AN AMENDMENT TO THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL
FACILITIES PLANNING IN ORDER TO AVOID THE CURRENTLY PROPOSED SCHOOL BOUNDARY
CHANGES IN BROWARD COUNTY; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY;
AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS,
the Broward County School Board
(“School Board”), Broward County Board of County Commissioners (“County”), and
the non-exempt Broward County Municipalities (“Municipalities”) entered into an
Interlocal Agreement for Public School Facilities Planning (“ILA”) in 2007
pursuant to the requirements of Sections 163.3180(13) and 163.31777, Florida
Statutes; and
WHEREAS,
the ILA adopted the individual school boundary as the Concurrency Service Area,
and adopted a Level of Service standard of 110% of permanent FISH capacity for
these Concurrency Service Areas; and
WHEREAS,
the ILA was found in compliance by the Department of Community Affairs and is
currently in effect; and
WHEREAS,
various new facilities were proposed in the School Board’s Educational Plant
Survey to support the feasibility of the ILA’s Concurrency Service Areas and
Level of Service standards; and
WHEREAS,
these proposed new facilities were subsequently rejected by the state and,
without construction of these facilities, many Concurrency Service Areas will
fail to meet the adopted Level of Service standard over the next five years;
and
WHEREAS,
the School Board has responded to these projected failures to meet the
Level of Service standard by proposing boundary changes for the affected
schools which will ultimately domino across the County and affect a large
number of schools; and
WHEREAS,
such boundary changes are disruptive to the education of our children, deprive
families of their reasonable expectations as to which schools their children
will attend, and will otherwise cause harm and substantial inconvenience to
many of the residents of the Municipalities; and
WHEREAS,
the Staff Working Group under the ILA, comprised of staff representation
from the School Board, County, and the Municipalities, held a meeting on
October 29, 2009; and
WHEREAS, the Staff Working Group made a recommendation to
continue the use of a 110% permanent capacity Level of Service standard, but to
amend the ILA to change the Concurrency Service Area from the individual school
boundary to eight (8) Concurrency Service Areas, each containing multiple
school boundaries, as a means of avoiding the proposed changes to school
boundaries; and
WHEREAS, another proposal involves the creation of
twelve (12) Concurrency Service Areas, which does not avoid the need to change
school boundaries at the middle school level and thus does not resolve the
current controversy and avoid the above-referenced harm to residents of the
Municipalities; and
WHEREAS, the Staff Working Group will forward its proposal to the Oversight Committee for the ILA (“Oversight Committee”) for further review in November 2009; and
WHEREAS,
the Oversight Committee will
subsequently forward its recommendation to the School Board, the County and all
Municipalities for approval; and
WHEREAS,
the proposed amendment to the ILA ultimately requires approval by the
School Board, the County and at least 75% of the Municipalities representing at
least 50% of the population of Broward County; and
WHEREAS,
although the amendment process will likely not be complete prior to the School
Board’s vote on the “Superintendent’s Boundary Recommendations,” the
recommendations brought forth by the Staff Working Group and Oversight
Committee should discourage the School Board from approving the currently
proposed boundary changes; and
WHEREAS,
should conditions change and additional facilities be approved for construction
by the state, the School Board, County and Municipalities can revisit the ILA
and further revise the Level of Service standard or Concurrency Service Areas
as may be appropriate; and
WHEREAS,
the City of North Lauderdale deems it to be in the best interests of the
citizens and residents of Broward County to support the amendment to the ILA
endorsed by the Staff Working Group, and further urges the School Board, the
Municipalities and the County to adopt the same.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, THAT:
Section
1. The foregoing
"WHEREAS" clauses are hereby ratified and confirmed as being true and
correct and are hereby made a specific part of this Resolution.
Section
2. The City of North
Lauderdale hereby supports the continued use of a 110% permanent capacity Level
of Service standard, but recommends amending the ILA to change the Concurrency
Service Area from the individual school boundary to eight (8) Concurrency
Service Areas, each containing multiple school boundaries, and urges the
Municipalities, the County and the School Board to approve such an amendment to
the ILA.
Section 3. If
any Section, sentence, clause or phrase of this Resolution is held to be
invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, then said
holding shall in no way affect the validity of the remaining portions of this
Resolution.
Section 4. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its passage and adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED
BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, THIS __________
DAY OF DECEMBER, 2009.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_______________________________
SAMUEL S. GOREN, CITY ATTORNEY
________________________________
MAYOR
JACK BRADY
________________________________
VICE
MAYOR JOHN R.CANGEMI
ATTEST:
_______________________________
PATRICIA VANCHERI, CITY CLERK
Attachment A
The Amended Interlocal Agreement for Public School Facility Planning dated December 7, 2007 between the School Board, Broward County and the municipalities recognizes the benefits of coordinating comprehensive land use and school facilities planning in order to implement public school concurrency.
The current Interlocal Agreement
utilizes individual school attendance boundaries to determine whether or not a
Level of Service at 110% of permanent capacity is achieved to comply with
public school concurrency. Since 2007,
various new school facilities were proposed in the School Board’s Educational
Plant Survey to support the feasibility of
the ILA’s Concurrency Service Areas and Level of Service standards. These
proposed new facilities were subsequently rejected by the state and, without
construction of these facilities, many Concurrency Service Areas will fail to
meet the adopted Level of Service standard over the next five years. The School Board has responded to these
projected failures to meet the Level of Service standard by proposing boundary
changes for the affected schools which will ultimately domino across the County
and affect a large number of schools.
The Staff Working Group is an advisory group comprised of staff representatives from the School Board, Broward County and the Municipalities. The purpose of this group is to coordinate implementation of the provisions of the Interlocal Agreement and to formulate recommendations regarding coordination of land use and school facilities planning.
The
Staff Working Group held a meeting on October 29, 2009 and made a
recommendation to continue the use of a 110% permanent capacity Level of
Service standard, but to amend the ILA to change the Concurrency Service Area
from the individual school boundary to eight (8) Concurrency Service Areas,
each containing multiple school boundaries, as a means of avoiding the proposed
changes to school boundaries.
The Staff Working Group will forward its
proposal to the Oversight Committee for further review in December and the Oversight Committee will subsequently forward its
recommendation to the School Board. The
final step in the process will be a formal amendment to the ILA which will
require approval by the School Board, the County and at least 75% of the
Municipalities representing at least 50% of the population of Broward County.
The Broward County
League of Cities deems it to be in the best interests of the citizens and
residents of Broward County to support the amendment to the ILA endorsed by the
Staff Working Group, and further urges the School Board, the Municipalities and
the County to adopt the same.