A legislative field trip

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A legislative field trip

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AID=/20041123/NEWS/411230390/1396

By KIM HACKETT

kim.hackett@...

PORT CHARLOTTE -- Southwest Florida's legislative delegation climbed

aboard a school bus with district leaders for a field trip Monday.

The journey to storm-ravaged Charlotte County schools was intended

to educate the lawmakers about the district's financial plight so

they'll take up the issue at next month's special legislative

session.

Superintendent Gayler wants lawmakers to sponsor legislation

that will give the district funding based on student enrollment

before Charley destroyed one-third of the schools. Without such

legislation, the district will lose about $5 million this year

alone. At the same time, the district is faced with having to

rebuild six schools at a cost of about $175 million.

After a three-hour tour that included a visit to third-graders at

Sallie Elementary, legislators said they'll support a funding

bill, but no one offered to take the lead.

" I think you'll see the whole delegation involved, " said Sen.

Carlton, head of the Ways and Means Committee. " It's going to take

all of us. "

Carlton said it was hard to say when lawmakers would begin dealing

with school relief, but Gayler has been pushing for legislators to

act on it during the special session when they consider property tax

relief for communities affected by this season's hurricanes.

To show legislators what the district is up against, Gayler gave

them an outside tour of East Elementary, one of the six schools

destroyed by the storm.

When the school bus stopped, state Sen. , R-

Bradenton, and newly elected Rep. Grant, R-Port Charlotte,

joined about 20 school officials in getting a peek -- and a whiff --

inside the boarded-up school.

Water-logged insulation caked the floor, the roof was peeled back

and the smell of mold blanketing walls overwhelmed people.

" I think I'll revisit the mold bill, " said , who plans to

sponsor legislation dealing with mold abatement and liability.

" I've never seen anything like that before, " said Carlton.

Gayler told the delegation that, even though it was obvious that

East Elementary had to be razed, the district can't do anything

until the insurance company and the Federal Emergency Management

Agency both say they'll pay to replace it.

FEMA picks up 90 percent of what insurance doesn't cover, but each

of the district's 300 damaged buildings has to be assessed

separately. Then FEMA must agree with the insurance assessments

before it pays its share. The district has hired a consultant to

navigate the process, but it could take two or more years to finish.

Later in the tour, the bus made a stop at the Baker Center

preschool -- a Head Start site and the first temporary modular

school scheduled to open. " We're so happy you're here, " said

director Margie Blackwell as teachers prepared classrooms for

infants and preschoolers who begin school Dec. 6.

The Baker Center got federal funding to rebuild within a month after

Charley, and plans are already under way to build a permanent

replacement.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head

Start -- the federal program that provides preschool for children

from low-income families -- quickly gave the district $3.7 million

to rebuild the campus, with about $2 million more coming from

insurance, which declared it a total loss. FEMA never got involved.

" I am disappointed that Head Start has been able to react so fast

and FEMA is so slow, " said.

Legislators got the full high-school experience when the bus dropped

them off at Port Charlotte High School for lunch. The school is

sharing quarters with Charlotte High School in double sessions.

Before saying goodbye to legislators, Gayler -- like a good teacher -

- made sure they absorbed the day's message:

" We know there are funds out there, " said Gayler, who has tried to

get relief from the state on issues ranging from FCAT scores to

classroom reduction rules.

If funding the schools based on last year's enrollment figures is

the only thing the legislators can do for Charlotte schools, he

said, " We can work with that. "