TALLAHASSEE — In the flurry of the last night of the legislative session, a bill that establishes a new statewide boarding school for troubled youth was approved by the Legislature.
Now, backers say Gov. Rick Scott is taking a closer look at the bill’s financial impact, leaving supporters to wonder if he is considering a veto as the Tuesday deadline to sign the bill approaches.
Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, the bill’s sponsor, said Monday that he spent Sunday night communicating with the governor about the bill. Wise said he and other supporters of the measure are “working on” providing Scott with more information.
The bill (SB 404) originally was focused on a program to help older foster care children. But in the last night of session, Wise added an amendment to establish a statewide college preparatory boarding school for at-risk youth.
The school would be funded through state dollars using a pool of resources from the state’s welfare and housing programs, Medicaid, foster care and school funding. The bill requires the State Board of Education to pick an organization to run the school, which would include grades six through 12.
But there were concerns by at least one lawmaker that the boarding school would siphon money away from several state programs and give it to students at just one school. Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, said the way the bill was vetted and approved was “inappropriate,” and was not seen by a budget committee.
The bill’s sponsors, who include Rep. Ari Porth, D-Coral Springs, say the bill has no fiscal impact for next year.
“At some point in the future there may be some funding request, but our bill doesn’t call for that.” Porth said. “It is fiscally neutral this year….but it leaves open the option of asking for money in the future.”
Wise said the governor’s concerns centered on the cost. “(Scott) asked where is the money coming from and who are we taking the money from,” Wise said. “Which is a pretty good question.”
Getting the boarding school approved at the last minute has generated some concern because there was no formal bill analysis done on the final version prior to approval by the Legislature.
Wise said the bill only requires a plan to be developed for a statewide boarding school. “If we don’t appropriate any money, it’s over,” he said, meaning the school can be stopped by simply not funding it later on.
Wise dismissed concerns about the last-minute addition of the statewide boarding school to the legislative agenda.
“I’ve been around a long time and it happens every year,” Wise said. “It was my bill and I did the amendment on it. I had been working with them for a long time, before session even started.”
The boarding school was lobbied heavily by two women, Leslie Poole from the SEED Foundation and Virginia Emmons McNaught from Educate Tomorrow, a Miami-based non-profit that provides mentoring for troubled youths. Both could benefit from the passage of the boarding school.
The SEED Foundation already operates similar schools in the Washington, D.C. area. The schools were featured in the documentary “Waiting for Superman,” which is critical of traditional public schools.
The women had support from more plugged-in lobbyists and consultants such as Don Winstead, the former deputy secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services, and Jim Horne, the former education commissioner.
Cathy Craig-Myers, with the Florida Juvenile Justice Association, said she interpreted the bill’s passage as more of an “acknowledgement” of a project the Legislature wants to approve in the future.
“There is no funding for it,” Craig-Myers said.
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