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CCMtg06-01-11Min(WS) LONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, Florida WORK SESSION MINUTES JUNE 1, 2011 6:30 P.M. Present: Mayor Joe Durso Deputy Mayor Bob Cortes Commissioner H.G. "Butch" Bundy Commissioner Brian Sackett Akan Langley, City Attorney Gayle Owens, Assistant City Attorney Jon Williams, Acting City Administrator Sarah M. Mirus, City Clerk ')Croy Hickson, Police Chief Absent: Commissioner John C. Maingot (Excused) I. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Durso called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. 2. DISCUSS THE POSSIBILITY OF A CHARTER SCHOOL AND OTHER OPTIONS AT LONGWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. Mayor Durso addressed the rumors that were going around the City_ He stated they were open to all options that were available and had not taken any formal steps. He said the Commission asked the Acting City Administrator, Mr. Williams to be the point of contact with the Seminole County School Board. He noted Mr. Williams had some conversations with representatives from the School Board and there were a few options for the property that have been presented very broadly to Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams said siizce the School Board's decision to suspend the operations at Longwood Elementary School, he said they have been approached with three (3) potential opportunities. He said the first was a Joint -Use Agreement with the Seminole County School Board for possible utilization of the facilities for expanded parks and recreation programs. He said the second opportunity involves the establishment of a new charter school, which some of the citizens have approached the Commissioners about and the third opportunity was a municipal charter school. He said the options with the charter school would be somewhat CC 06- 01- 11/153 controlled by the Seminole County Public Schools, which the City has been advised they were not intending to declare the property as surplus. He noted that would be one (1) of the hurdles in establishing a charter school that would have to be considered. He stated they had some representatives in the audience tonight and advised the Deputy Superintendent of Operations, Mr. George Kosmac with Seminole County Public Schools and a group of individuals that have been successful in establishing charter schools. He said if the Commission desires, they could respond to some questions and/or discussion. He said also in the audience was the Assistant City Attorney, Ms. Gayle Owens who had some experience in establishing charter schools. Deputy Mayor Cortes said he would like to hear what options they have. He said they toured the School, and saw the potential uses of the facilities and wanted to hear about the joint -use part of it. He said he also wanted to hear from the gentlemen in the audience and discuss the options available for the next two (2) years. Commissioner Sackett said he was not in favor of charter schools, but was willing to listen to the dialogue. He stated that he had very direct questions for Mr. Kosmac. George Kosmac Deputy Superintendent of Operations with Seminole County Public Schools, affirmed they owned the property. He stated that everything was pretty much on the table at this point -in -time and stated the budget does look pretty bleak for this coming year and the year after. He stated they would be taking a look at virtually every option possible to save money for the 2012 - 2013 school year. Discussion was held regarding the regulations that charter schools had to adhere to, versus the regulations public schools had to adhere to, and how charter schools were funded to include transportation costs and administrative costs. Mayor Durso asked what the chances were of the School being reopened a year or two from now and expressed that he was concerned about costs. Mr. Kosmac stated it is dependent on a couple of factors. He said the first was the funding they get from the State Legislature and the Governor. He said if they were able to see a big increase in funding that would go a long way for reconsideration. He said another factor would be the enrollment status and noted the enrollment at Longwood Elementary School had been declining. He said if the SunRail Project was approved by Governor Rick Scott that would attract a lot of students and families. He said that would be another consideration for the School Board. He stated it would be a year -by -year decision by the School Board. CC 06 -01- 11/154 Discussion was held regarding the possible reopening of Longwood Elementary School and the possibility of additional school closings. Mr. Kosmac stated they did have a meeting with one of the School Board Members, Dr. Bill Vogel, Mr. Williams and himself about week ago and one of the considerations was to have a senior activity center and possibly using some of the facilities that were in better shape than others at the School for that purpose. He said they discussed the possibility of using the fields for some recreational activities for the community. He said that was the extent of the discussions they had in terms of a joint -use facility. Mr. Williams said staff was presently trying to develop a list of programs that could be offered out of the facility and based on the Commission's direction tonight, they could have a sit -down in trying to establish an agreement for utilization of those facilities and would consider it a part of the Fiscal Year 2012 development process. Discussion was held in regards to possibly converting Longwood Elementary School to a charter school, and the requirements and noting the deadline for the application was August I' Commissioner Bundy said he had done some research and found twenty - seven schools that have closed and never reopened. He noted that he found the school boards would do minimal maintenance on those schools. He stated the conversion of Longwood Elementary School to a charter school was out of the question and Longwood Elementary School was dead. He then reviewed the costs of a charter school and provided examples of successful municipal charter schools. He said he was still open for discussion on a charter school and noted whatever the results, it would be something different. Deputy Mayor Cot es noted there were some people in the audience who could provide their expertise on this subject matter. Angel Delaportilla, 121 South Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida thanked the Commission for allowing him to be here this evening. He said he owns a company called Central Florida Strategies, which was a governmental consulting firni and said he brought with him a group of experts in charter schools. He said he was at the May 10"' Meeting, when the School Board decided to close Longwood Elementary School and he decided to reach out to see what they could offer for the City and residents. He gave an example of a successful municipal charter school located in Kissimmee, which opened in 1999 and stated it had over 750 students. He then introduced the team that was with him and outlined. their backgrounds. CC 06 -01- 11/155 Mr. Mark Goss 154 Magnolia Lakes Boulevard, Pori St. Lucie, Florida, said he was the Co- founder of nine (9) charter schools and currently operates five (5) charter schools. He stated he sits on two (2) boards and was Chairman of one of them. He then outlined the procedures of getting a charter school, and said the application would need to be completed by August l He then outlined the timeline once the application was submitted to the Seminole County School Board. He then answered questions from the City Commission and outlined the start-up costs of a charter school. Discussion ensued regarding the City having to go through the request for qualifications (RFQ) process in order to have an organization complete the application for a charter school. Discussion was held regarding the placement of the students and teachers of Longwood Elementary School, the parties interested in starting the charter school, and the utilization of the property at Longwood Elementary School. Deputy Mayor Cortes suggested they needed to look at this in the short- tenn and long -term planning of the uses for the property. He suggested exploring a senior center and said communications have been made with Meals on Wheels. Discussion ensued regarding staff suggesting programs that could be held at Longwood Elementary School and to bring those proposed programs forward to the Commission for their consideration. It was a consensus of the Commission to move.forward and develop alternative uses for the property that would be in conjunction with the City and the School Board and at the same time, the parents were free to negotiate in any way, shape or form with whom they would like working towards a charter school application. If that application comes before them, then they can decide at that point whether or not they want to support it. Commissioner Sackett said something they spent a lot of money on was the vision and mission of the City. He suggested touching base with Mr. Larry Adams with ACi and to get his input on something that might fit the property. Discussion was held regarding the plans for rezoning of the schools and outlined the process and timeline of when the rezoning was to be reviewed and approved. CC 06 -01- 11/156 3. ADJOURN. Mayor Durso adjourned the meeting at 7:47 p.m. k/ k7�) pay ®rr Sarah M. Mamas, MMC, NMA, City Clerk CC 06- 01- 11/157 This Page Left B#aink Intentionally. CC 06- 01- 11/158