Commissioner: Manatee School District problems affect entire community

MANATEE -- The entire community is affected by the Manatee County School District, and the Manatee County Commission needs to meet with district administrators to coordinate priorities, Commissioner Robin DiSabatino said Tuesday.

The county needs to be in synch with the school district as it moves forward with the county impact fee study on which the school district is piggybacking, DiSabatino said at the commission work session Tuesday.

Commissioner Charles Smith said there is a lot of miscommunication in dealing with the school board.

"I would highly recommend a joint meeting with the school board," Smith said.

County attorney Mickey Palmer said the county commission "has no legal author

ity to unilaterally adopt the school impact fee."

The school district suspended impact fees in July 2009 and is unable to reinstate them since the district needs an updated study, county Administrator Ed Hunzeker said.

"We could not reinstate with that old data," Hunzeker said. "They have now agreed to do the study. Now we will have updated information to allow them to have the information they need to request new fees."

The school board held a workshop Tuesday to discuss the district's long-term financial situation.

As the county commission continues to approve developments, having enough seats in schools is becoming an issue, Commissioner Carol Whitmore said.

"There are currently seats for every student," Whitmore said.

Smith questions whether the school impact information is correct in the agenda packet for proposed new developments.

"We take into effect that they are doing everything right but we don't actually know that," he said.

To better understand how the school district arrives at the data and the availability of seats, the commission instructed the county to set up a meeting with school district executive planner Mike Pendley. Hunzeker said he will contact Rick Mills, superintendent of schools.

"I think it would be very beneficial, not just to the Board of County Commission, but the general public that we have a work session," Commissioner John Chappie said.

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024 or at caronson@bradenton.com. Follow her on Twitter @Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published April 15, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Commissioner: Manatee School District problems affect entire community ."