Palm Beach State College officials conducted a community discussion Wednesday evening at the Loxahatchee Groves campus regarding the location of the school’s planned new dental programs building.
A decision will be made shortly whether to build the state-of-the-art dental facility at the new Loxahatchee Groves campus or at the Lake Worth campus, where the current dental building is located.
The meeting was well-attended by community leaders, educators and health professionals in the western communities. Those attending Wednesday’s forum encouraged the college to make the dental building the next addition to the Loxahatchee Groves campus.
One of the main messages voiced by those who made public comments came from State Rep. Matt Willhite (D-District 86). He expressed his shock that the site is now being disputed between two locations.
“When you had your grand opening, and I sat in this room with you, everyone said that spot right out there, that clear spot out there, is the spot for the dental campus,” Willhite said. “This was going to be a health science campus.”
That continued to be the discussion in the state capital, he said.
“Fast-forward to 2017 in Tallahassee, and Palm Beach State College comes, and they start asking for funding,” Willhite said. “And as you talked about funding this year and support in the future, and I have been and will be supportive, I was on the assumption that the money that was being asked for the dental building, it was no question where it was going to be built.”
At this point in time, the college is expected to seek local funding to support the construction project. It currently has $5 million received from the state for the dental building, which covers design but not construction, and there is no local funding going toward the project, according to Richard Becker, PBSC’s vice president of administration and business services.
In order for the college to receive financing for a new building from the state, it completes a survey conducted every five years, then uses a state formula to measure forecasted enrollment rates in each area there is a campus. The space needed for a proposed facility is generated, and that information goes into a capital improvement plan submitted to the state. The state ultimately decides which projects it will fund for the college.
“The revenue from those monies are shrinking,” Becker said. “We’re not bonding currently, so we’re only using the cash that comes in from those revenues’ source, not the bonding compounding component of that.”
Nevertheless, the school hopes to have the necessary funding in place to complete the new dental programs building over the next several years. It would replace the aging structure on the Lake Worth campus that is the current home to degree programs in dental assisting and dental hygiene.
Royal Palm Beach Mayor Fred Pinto continued to echo the room’s consensus regarding the desire to have the services and growth that the new addition to the college would bring the western communities.
Pinto said the original idea for the Loxahatchee Groves campus sent a message to the community
Palm Beach State College officials conducted a community discussion Wednesday evening at the Loxahatchee Groves campus regarding the location of the school’s planned new dental programs building.
A decision will be made shortly whether to build the state-of-the-art dental facility at the new Loxahatchee Groves campus or at the Lake Worth campus, where the current dental building is located.
The meeting was well-attended by community leaders, educators and health professionals in the western communities. Those attending Wednesday’s forum encouraged the college to make the dental building the next addition to the Loxahatchee Groves campus.
One of the main messages voiced by those who made public comments came from State Rep. Matt Willhite (D-District 86). He expressed his shock that the site is now being disputed between two locations.
“When you had your grand opening, and I sat in this room with you, everyone said that spot right out there, that clear spot out there, is the spot for the dental campus,” Willhite said. “This was going to be a health science campus.”
That continued to be the discussion in the state capital, he said.
“Fast-forward to 2017 in Tallahassee, and Palm Beach State College comes, and they start asking for funding,” Willhite said. “And as you talked about funding this year and support in the future, and I have been and will be supportive, I was on the assumption that the money that was being asked for the dental building, it was no question where it was going to be built.”
At this point in time, the college is expected to seek local funding to support the construction project. It currently has $5 million received from the state for the dental building, which covers design but not construction, and there is no local funding going toward the project, according to Richard Becker, PBSC’s vice president of administration and business services.
In order for the college to receive financing for a new building from the state, it completes a survey conducted every five years, then uses a state formula to measure forecasted enrollment rates in each area there is a campus. The space needed for a proposed facility is generated, and that information goes into a capital improvement plan submitted to the state. The state ultimately decides which projects it will fund for the college.
“The revenue from those monies are shrinking,” Becker said. “We’re not bonding currently, so we’re only using the cash that comes in from those revenues’ source, not the bonding compounding component of that.”
Nevertheless, the school hopes to have the necessary funding in place to complete the new dental programs building over the next several years. It would replace the aging structure on the Lake Worth campus that is the current home to degree programs in dental assisting and dental hygiene.
Royal Palm Beach Mayor Fred Pinto continued to echo the room’s consensus regarding the desire to have the services and growth that the new addition to the college would bring the western communities.
Pinto said the original idea for the Loxahatchee Groves campus sent a message to the community about what would happen to the campus as it developed.
“It painted a picture of this becoming the epicenter of the western communities, really moving forward and providing services and opportunities for all the young people who are going to be growing up in the western communities,” Pinto said. “I’m not only talking about my village. I’m not only talking about [Loxahatchee, The Acreage] and Wellington. I’m talking about all the way out west to the tri-cities, having a place to come to that’s easier to reach, giving hope and opportunity to those children.”
Judy McCauley, chair of the dental hygiene program at the Lake Worth campus, spoke out in support of keeping the program in Lake Worth.
“We, as a department, were asked to come together and give our comments and our thoughts as to why we think that our dental health building should stay on the Lake Worth campus, and we have 54 years of good reasons,” McCauley said. “From the excellence of education we’ve provided, to the service to the community, to the outreach programs we do.”
Loxahatchee Groves Mayor Dave Browning said he fully supported the addition of the Loxahatchee Groves campus to his town, and he supports it further with the development of the dental facility.
“One of the obvious things that I want you to realize is the support you have for this campus in this community,” he said. “My colleagues from Royal Palm Beach, from Wellington, from The Acreage, are here in support of this campus.”
Browning said that having the dental building in Loxahatchee Groves will make it more accessible to more parts of the county.
“This campus, besides being very beautiful and being very well-located, is right next to a great road that has excellent transportation,” Browning said. “It’s a smooth run, there are a lot less lights, it’s wide.”
A similar community meeting was conducted at the Lake Worth campus on Monday, Oct. 2.
“What we’re interested in is gathering facts, so we can make a decision and recommendation to our board as to which campus — Loxahatchee Groves or Lake Worth,” Becker said.
Visit www.palmbeachstate.edu/programs/dentalhealth to learn more about dental health programs at Palm Beach State College.
