Citrus County Schools, Florida
From Sunshine Review
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Contents |
[edit] Website evaluation
- Main article: Evaluation of Florida school district websites
[edit] The good
- Budget is published.[1]
- Administrative officials are listed with contact information.[2]
- School board members are listed with contact information. Meeting minutes and agendas are available.[3]
- Annual financial audit is available.[4]
- Curriculum, student progression plans[5], and testing information posted.[6]
[edit] The bad
- Site does not have a search function.
- Does not provide information on taxes, contracts, background checks, and how to make public records requests.
[edit] School board
The school board controls school property, establishes, organizes, and operates the schools of the district, including: establishing schools, adopting enrollment plans, providing for school elimination and consolidation, cooperating with school boards of adjoining districts in maintaining schools, maintaining the school year schedule and other more specific duties as outlined in the Florida statute. [7]
It operates, controls and supervises the district's public schools as well as determines the rate of school district taxes, with the option of two or more school districts operating and financing educational programs together. Below are the school district board members:[8]
| School board member | District |
|---|---|
| Lou Miele | District 1 |
| Ginger Bryant | District 2 |
| Pat Deutschman | District 3 |
| Bill Murray | District 4 |
| Linda Powers | District 5 |
The Citrus superintendent is Sandra Himmel.[9]
[edit] Teacher Contracts
Per the current contract as agreed upon December 9, 2003 (effective July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2010) by both the School Board of Citrus County, Florida and the Citrus County Education Association, contracts are to be negotiated via a collaborative process on an annual basis. Bargaining may occur year round, however ratifications to the contract may not exceed one per semester, or three per year. [10]
[edit] School Budget
Tentatively agreed upon in late July 2009, the 2009-10 school budget is approximately $247.8 million.[11]. Though on the surface the 2009-10 school budget appears to be significantly greater than the 2008-09 budget, this $247.8 million figure includes a $33 million bond to be used for the renovation of Crystal River High School. This bond is counted as revenue; so without it, even given the millions of federal stimulus funding that has rolled into the district over the past year, the 2009-10 budget is approximately $3 million less than the budget of 2008-09. [10]
[edit] Mills
For the 2009-10 school year, the total tentative millage rate is currently 7.815. One mill is equal to $1 for every $1000 of assessed property value; thus a homeowner in possession of a home valued at $125,000, with $25,000 homestead exemption, will pay approximately $782 in taxes to the school district for the 2009-10 school year. [10] Though the rate is higher than the mill of the 2008-2009 school year, the school district will receive less revenue due to decreased property values.
[edit] Academic Performance
Below are the academic grades for the Citrus Schools from Florida School Grades.[12] To see results, click "show".
| School | Level | Grade: 2007-08 | Grade: 2008-09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy of Environmental Sciences | High | n/a | n/a |
| Central Ridge Elementary School | Elementary | n/a | A |
| Citrus High School | High | C | A |
| Citrus Springs Elementary School | Elementary | A | A |
| Citrus Springs Middle School | Middle | A | A |
| Crystal River High School | High | D | C |
| Crystal River Middle School | Middle | A | A |
| Crystal River Primary School | Elementary | A | A |
| Floral City Elementary School | Elementary | B | A |
| Forest Ridge Elementary School | Elementary | A | A |
| Hernando Elementary School | Elementary | A | A |
| Homosassa Elementary School | Elementary | A | A |
| Inverness Middle School | Middle | B | A |
| Inverness Primary School | Elementary | A | A |
| Lecanto High School | High | C | B |
| Lecanto Middle School | Middle | A | A |
| Lecanto Primary School | Elementary | A | A |
| Pleasant Grove Elementary School | Elementary | A | A |
| Rock Crusher Elementary School | Elementary | A | A |
[edit] Unions
The Citrus County Education Association (CCEA) is the teacher's union for this school district.[13] Currently, Deborah Platt is the president of the CCEA.
As outlined in the current Teacher's Contract (see above), teachers are not obligated to join the teacher's union, but may choose whether or not to participate, and enrollment is open year-round. [10]
[edit] School Choice
In the 2005-06 school year, 143 Citrus County students participated in school voucher programs. Of these students, 47 attended Citrus County schools on a McKay scholarship, which allows students with disabilities to choose schools best suited to their educational and physical needs. The remaining 96 students participated in the Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship program, which provides vouchers to financially underprivileged students. [14]
[edit] Lobbying
- Main article: Florida taxpayer-funded lobbying
Taxpayer-funded lobbying is the practice of government entities using public funds to lobby. This occurs at all levels of government: it can be at the federal level or occur at local level with cities and counties, for example. These activities are hard to track because of the broad nature of lobbying, among other reasons. The issues lobbied for by governments can be diverse, but school lobbying typically deals with issues close to the school district or school board.
In July 2009, Sunshine Review submitted Freedom of Information Act requests to the 27 Florida school districts with lobbyists registered for 2009 with the Florida legislature. [15] The results of the information requests are included in Florida school districts lobbying totals. (For information on the project or to start your own, see the project page.)
The school district pays membership dues to several taxpayer-funded lobbying associations. Citrus County Schools belongs to Florida Association of District School Superintendents, Florida Association of School Administrators, Florida School Board Attorneys Association, Small School District Council Consortium, and the Florida School Boards Association. [16][17]
Citrus County School District has lobbying representation from Emergent Design & Development. Before this, it employed the services of Cerra Consulting Group.
Since 2003, the school district has spent $42,000 on lobbying contracts:
| Firm | Date start | Date end | Contract Amount |
| Emergent Design and Development | Aug-2008 | Aug-2009 | $10,000.00 |
| Emergent Design and Development | Dec-2007 | Dec-2008 | $10,000.00 |
| Emergent Design and Development | Dec-2006 | Dec-2007 | $10,000.00 |
| Cerra Consulting Group | Oct-2004 | Oct-2005 | $6,000.00 |
| Cerra Consulting Group | Oct-2003 | Oct-2004 | $6,000.00 |
Emergent Design & Development offers legislative updates to staff to the school district. The agreement between the firm and school district also requires the members to attend legislative meetings that relate to the school district business and all meetings of the Florida Educational Legislative Liaisons, and to respond to all school board, superintendent, and staff requests for legislative information.
Consultants from Cerra Consulting Group assisted the school district in developing its legislative platform.
This is not exhaustive of all lobbying activities, as lobbying activities are hard to track and only certain lobbying activities in Florida need to be reported to the Florida legislature.
[edit] Most recent
The school district has spent $10,000 in 2009 on a contract with Emergent Design and Development.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Citrus County School District official website
- Great Schools - Citrus County
- Florida Smart - Citrus County
- School Matters - Citrus County
- Public School Review - Citrus County
[edit] References
- ↑ Budget
- ↑ Directory
- ↑ Board
- ↑ Audit
- ↑ Curriculum
- ↑ Testing
- ↑ School board powers and duties, Florida statute
- ↑ School board members
- ↑ Superintendent
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 CCEA Instructional Contract
- ↑ School Board Tentatively OKs New Tax Rate, July 2009
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Citrus County Education Association
- ↑ School Voucher Decision, January 6, 2006
- ↑ Online Sunshine - Lobbying Information
- ↑ Florida School Boards Association members list
- ↑ Small School District Council Consortium Members
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