OFFICE OF
THE CITY COUNCIL
117 WEST DUVAL STREET,
SUITE 425
4TH FLOOR, CITY HALL
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 32202
904-630-1377
JOINT
CITY COUNCIL/DUVAL COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEETING MINUTES
September 21, 2016
12:00
p.m.
Location: City Council
Chamber, City Hall – St. James Building; 117 West Duval Street,
In attendance:
City Council Members: Lori Boyer (President), Greg Anderson, Danny
Becton, Aaron Bowman, Anna Lopez Brosche, Reggie Brown, Doyle Carter, John Crescimbeni, Garrett Dennis, Al Ferraro,
Reginald Gaffney, Bill Gulliford, Tommy Hazouri, Jim Love, Joyce Morgan, Sam
Newby, Matt Schellenberg and Scott Wilson
Excused: Council Member Katrina Brown
School Board members: Ashley Smith Juarez (Chair), Scott Shine, Cheryl
Grymes, Paula Wright, Becki Couch
Excused: Dr. Connie Hall
Also: School Superintendent Nikolai Vitti; Council Director/Secretary Cheryl Brown; Paige
Johnston – Office of General Counsel; Katrin MacDonald and Crystal Shemwell –
Legislative Services Division; Steve Cassada and Louie Marino – Council Staff
Services; Jeff Clements – Council Research Division; John Pappas and Nelson
Caparas – Public Works Department; Cathy Maycott and
Nena Sparrow – School Board staff
Meeting Convened:
12:10 p.m.
Council President Boyer convened the meeting and announced that the
meeting will be an informal workshop process addressing only the items listed on
the agenda. There will not be a public comment period since the bodies will not
be taking any action today.
School utilization and capacity and the concurrency/regulatory
framework
Bill Killingsworth, Director of Planning and Development, described
the statutory requirements of the City’s comprehensive plan and concurrency
management system, including establishing levels of service and the requirement
for the county and the school district to enter into an interlocal
agreement on school concurrency. The Legislature has made school concurrency an
optional comp plan element; Jacksonville continues to have a public schools
element in its Comprehensive Plan. A Joint Planning Committee composed of city
council and school board members and staff from both agencies is required to
meet annually to review population projections and development patterns and
plan for future school locations. School concurrency-related issues are
addressed in the Public Schools element, Capital Improvements Element and
Intergovernmental Coordination element.
Mr. Killingsworth reported that state regulations require school
concurrency level of service to be calculated at a sub-district zone level, but
permits available capacity from one zone to be shared or “borrowed” by another
zone.
School Superintendent Nikolai Vitti
explained that changing growth patterns has meant an excess of school capacity
in some older areas of the city and a shortage of capacity in newer,
faster-growing areas of the city. The district’s maintenance backlog grows at
$5 – 7 million per year. He noted that the school utilization rate does not
include certain types of classes such as art and music, and ESE (exceptional
student education). The first remediation activity for school overcrowding is
changing school attendance zones to shift students from an overcrowded school
to one with available capacity. The next step is expansion of or construction
of new schools. Both of those options require lengthy community engagement
processes, so remedies cannot happen quickly.
Council Member Gulliford said that the School Board would likely hear
a great deal of discussion in the future about the importance of keeping
neighborhood-based schools because of their importance to neighborhood
stability. In response to a question from Council Member Reggie Brown about
school choice options and their effect on troubled schools, Superintendent Vitti said that the state law on open enrollment (beginning
for the next school year) permits parents to put their children in any school
that has capacity. Duval County’s schools are well positioned to deal with open
enrollment because of the variety of school options already offered (magnet
schools, charter schools, etc.). The potential impact of open enrollment on
athletic programs was briefly discussed; illegal recruiting will have to be
closely monitored and reported. Mr. Vitti said that
private school enrollment has been declining in the county and charter school
enrollment is not growing as quickly as had been originally projected.
Jacksonville does have a very high percentage of home-schooled students
compared to the rest of the state. He believes that good neighborhood schools
are what parents really want, but the district has to be as efficient as it can
with its limited resources and provide capacity where it’s needed and shrink
capacity where it’s not needed.
Council Member Ferraro said that developers looking for areas to build
homes that have available school capacity are told one thing by the district
while residents and council members are told something different, which is very
frustrating. Dr. Vitti said that the school district
web site has official capacity information for each school (FISH – Florida Inventory
of School Houses). In response to a question from Council Member Dennis about
who has the ultimate decision about where to allow new development to occur considering
school capacity for level of service, Dr. Vitti said
that the school district is consulted by developers about where capacity exists
and where more capacity could be created, but the City is responsible for
approving new residential and commercial development which may or may not occur
in available capacity areas. He also noted that when the district wants to add
capacity it must be approved by the state, which looks at capacity on a
district-wide basis and not necessarily on a sub-district basis, and therefore
does not recognize capacity shortages in particular areas. In response to a
question from Council President Boyer about what, if any, authority the City
and School Board have to change definitions and processes or otherwise change
the current system for measuring capacity and concurrency, Mr. Killingsworth
said that the parties could revisit the Interlocal Agreement and make changes
to deal with emerging problems, or could eliminate the Public Schools Element
of the Comp Plan since that is now an optional element. Dr. Vitti
said that commercial priorities tend to drive development patterns in
Jacksonville and more communication and problem-solving need to happen in
advance before developers buy land and build where it’s convenient and
profitable for them without regard to whether the school system can handle the
resulting burden. Ms. Boyer advocated for reinvigorating the Joint Planning
Committee to have these discussions and
Mr. Ferraro suggested that the school district assign an employee to attend the
Land Use and Zoning Committee meetings to see potential developments as they
are discussed. In response to a question from President Boyer, Dr. Vitti said that the district is limited in how it can use
its tax millage proceeds for operating and capital purposes. Ms. Boyer
requested that the district provide the Finance Committee with detailed
information about what millage rate the district can levy, how the revenue is
used, and how the state’s funding formula works.
Hazardous walking conditions/Gabby’s Law for School Safety
Public Works Director John Pappas described how the City and the
school district cooperate on identifying and evaluating unsafe walking
conditions around schools (currently 57 locations have been identified by the
state via the school district). Mr. Ferraro asked School Board members to ride
his district with him to see problem areas in the field that may not be
apparent on maps and aerial photos. School Board member Becki Couch pointed out
a dangerous condition on Argyle Boulevard and Old Middleburg Road near where
the new toll road is being constructed – she fears that when the toll road
opens next year and drivers attempt to avoid the toll by using surface roads,
walking to the school will be even more dangerous than it already is. President
Boyer said this is a perfect example of how development decisions are made that
create problems that then have to be remediated. In response to a question from
Council Member Love about how a City Council member or citizen can get a potentially
dangerous situation added to the Gabby’s Law list, Mr. Pappas said that they
should be reported to Public Works which will then coordinate with the school
district to convey that situation to FDOT.
Council Members Brown, Bowman and Becton all noted that charter
schools are problematic because they don’t have to meet the same location and
development standards as regular public schools and are sometimes located in
places that cause traffic and walking safety problems. Mr. Becton feels that the onus has been put on
council members and Public Works to solve safety problems without school
district participation. Superintendent Vitti
explained that the school district’s responsibility for charter schools lies in
reviewing their financial health – the district doesn’t have any jurisdiction
over personnel, curriculum or facilities. The district will be happy to help a
charter school solve a problem if they ask for assistance.
Joint use agreements
President Boyer reported that a joint use agreement has been adopted
for Landon Middle School to make it a true community asset. Council Member
Hazouri suggested more community utilization of school libraries via joint use
agreements. Council Member Bowman said that funding is always going to be a
limitation on what can be done because City use of school facilities puts an
increasing burden on the Parks and Recreation Department to maintain those
facilities.
Homeless students
Dr. Pamela Davis, Executive Director of Alternative Programs for the
school district, gave an overview of how the school district deals with
homeless students. The federal definition addresses “fixed, regular and
adequate” overnight accommodations. The district had 2,257 homeless students
last year. 88% of those students were promoted to the next grade level and 67%
of homeless high school seniors graduated. The district assists homeless
students by providing a wide range of assistance to those students, from
transportation to school supplies, waiving of fees, referrals to service
providers, and the like. There is a contact person at each school to serve as a
liaison to students to connect them with available services. Dr. Davis reported
that the district initially identifies homeless students via the school
homelessness liaison (typically the school counselor), typically through
self-reporting, either by the student or by a family member. Teachers sometimes
identify the issue through conversations with the student. In response to a
question from Council Member Hazouri, Dr. Davis said that the homeless status
of a student is determined as of July 1 each year and must be renewed annually.
A big problem seems to be the lack of affordable housing in Jacksonville.
Families enter assistance programs and get on waiting lists, but remain
homeless because there is a s shortage of affordable
units for them to rent.
In response to a question from Council Member Dennis about why
homeless students graduate at a fairly high rate, Dr. Davis said that it is
attributable in part to the many resources available to students via school
staff and case workers, and to the ability under the federal McKinney Vento
Homeless Assistance Act for a student to stay in their home school despite
losing their residence in that school’s attendance zone.
Information for future meetings
·
Council Member Brown asked for information on
the ability of school district teachers to work in the City‘s Jacksonville
Journey summer programs.
·
Council Member Hazouri suggested that the City
propose to the Duval Legislative Delegation that the state law be amended to
ensure that PECO funds are allocated fairly to regular K-12 schools as well as
to charter schools, which seem to be getting a majority of the funding.
·
School Board Member Wright asked that the City
and School Board look at ways of revitalizing neighborhoods that will in turn
help the schools there to be successful.
·
Council Member Ferraro suggested that School
Board members attend City Council member town meetings and vice versa.
President Boyer said that another joint meeting would be scheduled for
January or February of 2017 and welcomed suggestions for topics to be discussed
at that time.
Meeting adjourned:
1:48 p.m.
Minutes: Jeff Clements, Council Research
9.21.16
Posted 3:30 p.m.
Tapes: Council agenda meeting –
LSD
9.21.16