School Update And Tax Rate Set To Rollback

The first meeting to redefine our local schools was held recently at Hallandale High School. There was a good turnout of not simply residents but teachers, students, parents, community stakeholders and elected officials. As of July 29th, 58 schools were below 70% capacity: 39 elementary, 16 middle, and 3 high schools. In our area the three middle schools were all under enrolled below 55% with McNicol the lowest at 45%.

McNicol Middle School and Hallandale High will be my focus as these directly impact our city. It needs to be noted, the school boundaries are different from city boundaries so these two schools impact Hollywood, West Park and Pembroke Park. Hallandale High School was under enrolled as of last year 64% of 1,055 with 574 empty seats. Last night, that number dipped even further this school year with a number around 900.

This process obviously has been ongoing for a year or two. This spring there was a survey sent out to all parents inquiring about their school choices. Obviously, many schools are under enrolled, and enrollment is down across the board. Even some charter schools are seeing a dip and capacity.

The School Board survey found four areas that they needed to focus on. Better track of social and economics rather than sole focus of grades, more college and career readiness support, concentrate on supporting teachers to bolster the quality of education, address school safety and work to reduce instances of bullying and harassment. These were along with other issues like transportation, school facilities and environment and extracurricular activities.

School Board Member Bulman shared that they want input from the residents as they realize how these decisions naturally impact students and families, and every child deserves a quality education. Currently, they are doing this district wide. Some schools have been closed, and properties are being looked at for sale. Others are being repurposed for support services utilized as offices for rent.

As far as this school board staff shared that palimony discussions were had to combine McNicol with Hallandale High and convert Hallandale High Program to mirror the Pompano Beach model which has a waiting list. The reality is there will be some tough decisions to make over the next months on these two schools and others district wide.

They asked for participation in a live survey and had a breakout session. If you want to provide your input, there is a link on the school board website.

The City Commission adopted our budget which included setting the Millage Rate to roll back. This is the second time in two years. If you are homesteaded, as far as the City Tax this will be the amount listed on the last column. The system is a bit complex to understand as every property is based on its taxable values. Using my TRIM notice as an example taxable value went up 24,000 due to Save our Homes and homestead exemptions. My portion of the city tax went up $14 dollars. If you are not homestead or commercial the Tax Rate of 7.3848 will be applied to the Taxable Value.

As always, I am available anytime for your questions, concerns, and ideas to make our City a better place on my Phone/Text at: (954) 632-5700. Or you can email me at: jcooper@cohb.org. Please visit me on my Facebook page at: Mayor Joy Cooper. Like! Follow! And share!