The Palm Beach County Commission postponed action Tuesday on a request by the Palm Beach County School Board to place a referendum on the November ballot asking voters to continue a 0.25-mill levy for school operations after charter school representatives said the referendum in its present form was not fair to charter schools.
Kendall Artusi, founder of Bright Futures Academy Charter School, said she thought charter schools should also receive a portion of the tax, which finances non-core programs operated by the school district.
“I would like to request the fair and equal treatment of all students who are enrolled in Palm Beach County School District-sponsored schools, and a clear and unambiguous ballot for Palm Beach County voters,” Artusi said, quoting a state statute that includes charter schools as part of the state’s public education program.
“All charter schools in Florida are public schools,” Artusi said, quoting another Florida statute stating that all students enrolled in a charter school, regardless of the sponsorship, must be funded for programs in the same manner as students enrolled in other public schools.
“All students in the public school system are not funded equally,” she said. “In addition to the large discrepancy in capital funding, students enrolled in Palm Beach County charter schools do not receive benefits derived from the 0.25-mill levy approved by voters in 2010 and will not receive any of the benefits from these proposed ballots that you have before you today.”
Artusi explained that the ballot states only, “Shall the School Board of Palm Beach County have the authority to continue to levy 0.25 mills of ad valorem millage dedicated for school operational needs to fund teachers, as well as arts, music, physical education, career and academic programs…”
“In reading this, I ask you, is it understood that not all Palm Beach County arts, music, physical education, career and academic programs will receive these funds?” Artusi said. “We believe it is an injustice that a group of students receives unequal funding simply because their parents exercised their constitutional and statutory right to a choice educational program.”
She added that the school district has used its discretion to finance only public schools under its jurisdiction but could not find any provisions specifically denying charter schools revenue from the extra tax money.
Laura Hanley with the Florida Charter School Alliance asked the commissioners to proceed with caution as it considered the proposed referendum language presented by the school board.
“Please, let’s stop confusing voters with language that is not clear,” she said. “We would like to state simply that charter schools are public schools. It is a simple fact that is often forgotten. Since charter schools are public schools, charter schools must be included and receive their fair share of the funding. However, there has been no proviso made for charter school students to benefit from the proposed funding.”
Hanley noted that there are 47 charter schools in Palm Beach County serving approximately 13,000 students. “We would urge the commission to instruct the Palm Beach County School Board to clarify their language before you approve this referendum,” she said.
Commissioner Shelley Vana asked whether the school district is going to share the funding with charter schools, and Chief Operations Officer Michael J. Burke said the levy is a continuation of what has been in place the last four years, dedicated to financing fine arts programs within district-operated schools.
“This is funding about 530 teachers,” Burke said. “Our board has had a commitment to the arts in Palm Beach County, and when we went through the recession and suffered reduced state funding and also a reduction in our millage authority, the board set out with this referendum to safeguard those programs.”
Vana said she is committed to the public school system, but she said the charter school system was set up with the intention of being more efficient than public schools.
“I think you’ve got to work this out,” Vana said. “If people are going to be paying taxes, they are going to have to, I think, share in this.”
Commissioner Steven Abrams agreed. “We’re not school board members, obviously, but we are passing this through to put on the ballot, so the question as to the clarity of it is, in my view, something that we need to consider.”
Abrams said he thought the language either should be changed or the school board should assure the charter schools as a policy position that they will receive proportionate financing. If the referendum language goes through as is, what passed easily in 2010 could become a divisive issue, he said.
Commissioner Hal Valeche asked whether the charter schools have fine arts programs, and Burke said many do, but that the school district does not have control over them.
“Subject to board approval, they are within their rights to be specific that those funds are only going to be for schools under their control,” Burke said.
Burke also pointed out that the question was raised after the 2010 election and the state agreed that the funding was for district-operated schools.
Mayor Priscilla Taylor said it was not in the commission’s purview to change language for a school board referendum and asked whether they could postpone a decision until they could get a response from the school board. Staff answered that there is about a month of leeway time.
Vice Mayor Paulette Burdick said charter schools have a contract with the school district. “Yes, they are public schools, but they have a contract to operate, and within these contracts, the school district has no discretion on how they spend their dollars,” she said, adding that she fully supported the reauthorization of the 0.25-mill levy.
Commissioner Mary Lou Berger was displeased that one governmental entity has to go to another to get something on the ballot, but that if the language was appropriate, she was comfortable with it.
Commissioner Jess Santamaria said he believed the language should leave no doubt in interpretation. “We have to make sure that the public is perfectly clear on what they are voting for,” he said.
Burke said he would go back to the school board at its June 18 meeting and see if it wishes to clarify the language. The items can then return to the county commission on June 26.
Valeche made a motion to refer the referendum initiative back to the school board for clarification, which passed unanimously.
