Future educational opportunities, curriculum, and wide-ranging decisions impacting students, schools, and staff will be greatly shaped by the upcoming August 20 Primary Election when two of the five non-partisan school board member seats will be decided. The Collier School Board sets policies for the district and Superintendent Dr. Leslie Ricciardelli operates our 50+ traditional public schools, which serve the educational needs of more than 48,000 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Since board members adopt and oversee the annual budget, they are instrumental in providing access and opportunities for all children who will be the next generation charged with keeping our community as the number one place to live, work, and raise a family.
This Primary Election, the two Collier School Board seats on all voter ballots pertain to Districts Two and Four, currently held by Stephanie Lucarelli and Erick Carter, respectively. Under Florida law (FS 1001.361), the election of school board members is by district-wide vote. This means Collier County registered voters may vote for any School Board candidate up for election regardless of where the voter resides or the voter’s party affiliation. Simply put, every ballot will list District School Board of Collier County elections. The races for District Two and Four seats will be decided on August 20, 2024; therefore, there will be no need for a subsequent vote to be held for these positions during the November 5 General Election.
The November ballot will include an item that greatly impacts how schools are funded for the next four years. A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question will ask voters about the continuation of tax-neutral flexible funding for Collier County Public Schools. A public vote is required through a referendum to provide our local School Board with the flexibility to continue to shift up to $60 million per year from the Capital Budget to the Operating Budget for the next four years. This is timely because the current referendum expires in June of 2025. The tax-neutral referendum will not add any additional costs to taxpayers. State funding does not cover the full operating costs for education, and this is evidenced by the need for districts to bring additional tax referendums to voters to generate revenue for capital and/or operating expenses. Forty-four of Florida’s 67 school districts have passed tax-increase referendums. Collier County is fortunate to be an outlier in this case because our referendum is tax neutral. The referendum has historically passed by wide margins since first appearing on Collier ballots in 2008, and it has been used to recruit, support, and retain the high-quality staff who make CCPS a high-performing school district. These funds will also assist in maintaining and enhancing extracurricular programming for all students.
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