Seminole County School Board deliberately misled citizens with ballot language

In 2010 the Seminole County School Board tried, unsuccessfully, to sway the citizens of Seminole County into voting for the extension of the “Sales Tax” under false pretenses – they’re at it again in 2012. Only this time the “TAX INCREASE” is much more eloquently disguised as the “Seminole County School District Ad Valorem Millage Election”. The exact ballot language per the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections website reads as follows:
“Seminole County School District Ad Valorem Millage Election Shall Seminole County School District ad valorem millage be increased by up to one mill beginning July 1, 2013, and ending not more than four (4) fiscal years later on June 30, 2017, for essential operating expenses to: preserve "A" rated academic, vocational, arts, and athletic programs; retain highly qualified teachers; and repair and maintain school buildings with annual reporting to the county's citizens to ensure fiscal stewardship of the funds?”
The facts:

1. Seminole County student enrollment is at a seven-year low
2. Seminole County School Board recently discovered an additional $5 Million
3. Seminole County schools rank among the highest in Florida – even with a tax decrease in 2010
4. 40% of the School Board voted NO on the ballot in the first place
5. Seminole County Schools are going into next year with a surplus

The myths:

1. Seminole County Schools may lose their “A” rating without a tax increase
2. Seminole County Schools may lose some teachers without a tax increase
3. Seminole County School buildings may not be properly maintained without a tax increase
4. Unlike the sales tax debacle, the millage tax increase will quietly go away in four years
5. The School Board can’t account for $5 million in its current budget this year - but it promises to account for an additional $100 million over four years

Currently, 84% of the School District’s budget is consumed by employee salaries and benefits. As stated in the School Board’s own ballot language referenced above, we must assume that “fiscal stewardship of the funds”, an additional $100 million - would be allocated using current budgeting guidelines. Or, 84% of the $100 million would be spent on employee salaries and benefits.
Nevertheless, the lack of specifics in the ballot language means the additional $100 million tax on the citizens of Seminole County can be allocated (or misplaced) in whatever manner the School Board deems necessary.
In the summer of 2012 the Seminole County School Board gave school employees a $3 million bonus. Just last year the School Board justified closing Longwood Elementary because they said it would save $1 million per year. This past year, the School Board threatened to close two more Seminole County schools, citing budget constraints, right up until it miraculously discovered an additional $5 million.
Closing Longwood Elementary last year which displaced hundreds of children and saved $1 million - a tiny fraction of the budget - didn’t make a lot of sense at the time. No school employee lost their job when the school closed, as far as I know, and the vast majority of the savings would have come from employee salaries and benefits in the first place.
Fast-forward to 2012, the School Board frightened our community once again with its threat to close two more schools - citing budget constraints. After all, they must be taken seriously this time because they closed Longwood Elementary one year ago. These threats quickly receded when the School Board distributed the aforementioned $3 million in bonuses and found another $5 million.
The Seminole County School Board and former Superintendent were furious following the defeat of the half-cent sales tax by Seminole County residents in 2010. A few of the Board members and the Superintendent have been replaced but their thirst for raising taxes on Seminole County residents has never been quenched. Ever since the half-cent sales tax defeat, it seems like the Seminole County School Board and Superintendent(s) have been carefully conditioning the Seminole County residents to approve their next ballot initiative – tax increase. The voters are not going to stand in their way this time.
There are many unanswered questions and the citizens deserve the truth.

1. Was Longwood Elementary closed as part of a deliberate scheme to shock Seminole County residents into submission?
2. Was the threat of more school closings meant solely to re-enforce that “shock” and further condition us to support a tax increase to stop the proverbial “bleeding”?
3. Are the first two questions examples of pay-back by the School Board for the 2010 half-cent sales tax defeat?

“Let me be clear”, to quote our fearless leader. There is no proof of any elaborate scheme nor has anyone been mentioned by name or specifically accused of anything. However, the past two years of crisis and consequence have been incredibly coincidental, albeit, systematic. At the very least, the School Board has all but lost the public’s trust and long since lost the expectation of trusted fiscal stewardship. At the very worst, our Seminole County School leaders have some explaining to do.