Trails in the Sand by Peter Traceit, the Street Detective
Ol Pete is overjoyed at the news that New Pete is on a listening tour of residents in the community before any decisions are made to close, repurpose or right size schools. Not sure if there are any other names or phrases out there to describe the process, but Ol Pete is thinking if there is some good ol chap will pull it from the dirt and dust it off.
Hip Hip Hooray. Super Pete has committed to listening to the community. It is time for the community to wake up and have a seat at the table before they and their children become the main course.
The Detective has been using a magnifying glass to really dig into the facts and data of this whole declining enrollment saga that Super Pete has been talking about, and if the numbers are correct, it is quite scary, especially since the prediction is that the declining enrollment is going to continue over the next decade when most of us won’t even be here. It’s like the school district is hemorrhaging and Superintendent Licata is trying to put a large bandage on the wound. Traceit is wondering, but how do you stop the bleeding? Why is Broward schools bleeding so profusely in the first place? Are Palm Beach and Miami-Dade experiencing the same trauma to their school enrollment and at the same rate? The finger of blame has been pointed at the rising costs to live in Broward county and that families are moving out of the area. Are they also moving out of Palm Beach and Miami-Dade? While there may be some truth to this theory, Ol Pete smells something else cooking in the oven.
Peter Traceit has studied the numbers, and they show that Broward student enrollment has been declining for many years. While families have been moving out of the district due to rising cost of living expenses, the fact remains that many families have voted with their feet and left Broward public schools for charter public schools. Ol Pete wants to point out that you can apply a bandage but to truly stop the bleeding, Broward schools must dig up why families who have not left the county are choosing to go elsewhere. Some of these school buildings are really not even fit to house students, and there needs to be accountability of how they have become this way, in the first place. But that’s no reason because some families choose charter schools in strip malls and their neighbor’s kitchen to avoid coming into Broward schools. Ol Pete wants to know why.
For Pete’s sake, there are 50,000 students in charter schools. Dig this. There are enough students in charter schools to fill 20 or more Broward schools to capacity.
This fact alone is startling and the reason why Ol Pete is reluctantly siding with New Pete on this one. This may come as a surprise, but Pete isn’t opposed to closing the doors, right sizing or repurposing some schools that have lost droves of students.
But hold onto your britches. There is always a catch with Ol Pete. What Pete, The Street Detective, is most concerned about is what happens to the students who are “school-less” and how will the savings and profits from selling or repurposing the property benefit those students and families who are displaced.
It’s as simple as this. If a household goes from two incomes to one, the family must trim the fat and, in some cases, eliminate some things. So, the Detective isn’t fighting what’s about to happen. But you best believe that Ol Traceit will be digging up sand around how it happens as far as the process and equitable treatment. Are all schools- east, west, and north and south – treated the same. How do we ensure we don’t get a re-Pete of what happened to Black schools, Black children, and Black families when doors were closed during desegregation. Let’s hope New Pete understands this from a national perspective and a Broward specific lens.
Ol Pete is at a tennis match trying to make sense of what is going on with teacher raises in Broward. Anna Fusco of the Broward Teacher Union isn’t behaving in her usual rude demeanor and loud tone, but her message has remained the same. Teachers are getting less but deserve more salary. Fusco doesn’t count referendum dollars as salary because these dollars are not guaranteed to reoccur. They depend on the voters.
Board member Torey Alston sees it differently and he doesn’t hold back even as he is buried in criticism on social media X, formerly known as Twitter. The Detective noticed that the other Board members are not as vocal as Alston, but their votes speak for them. In a nutshell, Broward teachers won’t be getting the raises that Dade and Palm Beach got and got early.
While Dade and Palm Beach teachers are ordering dessert, Broward teachers haven’t even been served the complimentary glass of water.
Pete chuckled at fellow sensations reporter Chris Nelson who made a valid point in a tweet on X. Nelson pointed out that the majority of the Board, 5 of 9 members, are endorsed by the BTU, yet teachers can’t get raises. In good old Chris Nelson form, he joked that the only thing that the BTU can get passed is tax increases at the ballot box that comes out of the pockets of homeowners. How is that fair? Pete is thinking we should revisit that reprieve to the tax base that Alston was pushing some time ago.
There’s no rest for the weary in these sand trails. There is dirt to be cleared and cleaned from the trails and Peter Traceit, The Street Detective, has a broom and pan in hand.
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