BELLEAIR BLUFFS — Late negotiations by state lawmakers spared school property taxes from the reforms Florida voters will decide on in November. But that doesn’t mean districts are in the clear, Pinellas County Schools Superintendent Kevin Hendrick told Belleair Bluffs officials last month.
Even with schools exempt, Hendrick said, the agencies and programs the district relies on — from school resource officers to after-school care — could face deep cuts if the measure passes, and students and families would feel the effects.
Hendrick, a Largo High School graduate who said he grew up in neighboring Belleair, appeared at the June 15 City Commission meeting with School Board Vice Chair Dawn Peters at the invitation of City Commissioner Suzy Sofer, briefing officials on the state of the district and Florida’s schools.
He acknowledged that the reform proposal, HJR 1-F, excludes schools, based on the rationale that “school boards do not have the ability to make this (revenue) up any other way.” Still, “that does not mean the school board won’t be impacted,” he said.
The district works with “a number of partners ... that will be impacted,” Hendrick said, including the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office school resource officer program; the Juvenile Welfare Board, whose “largest expense is after-school programs and summer school programs”; and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as Swiftmud, which he said gives every fourth grader in the district an “outdoor learning experience” at a county nature preserve.
“Those things will likely go away,” Hendrick said.
The district also partners with county health boards to place a nurse in every school and to run health clinics at six of them — services that could disappear if the measure wins the 60% voter approval it needs in November.
“So, those are just some examples of how, even though the school district itself won’t be impacted, students, families and communities certainly may be,” he said.
Asked how the district might replace services lost if the measure passes, Hendrick said it is exploring options with the Juvenile Welfare Board but warned that “all of nonprofit (programs and services) will be touched somehow.”
Mayor Chris Arbutine, an early and outspoken opponent of the measure, called it “just ludicrous” and warned of the damage its passage could do to Florida’s education system.
“We need to tell everyone this property tax proposal is terrible,” he said. “Because (school boards) are next on the chopping block, because it’s divide and conquer. And it feels like they’re trying to segment our academia from the people. And that could be devastating.
“But we’re not going to let this go,” the mayor said. “We’re going to stay on top of it.”
Enrollment and teacher retention
Asked about teacher attrition in the county, Hendrick said the district retains staff well and that its shrinking teacher corps is a product of falling enrollment, the result of a declining birth rate that has forced some school closures and consolidations.
“We do very well in Pinellas County with retention of our staff,” he said. “In 1990 in Pinellas County, there were 10,000 babies born a year in our hospitals. Five years ago, there were 7,000 born. So, there is a natural attrition of students ... and this bubble of birth rates is just matriculating through our system, and that’s why we have fewer teachers.”
Pinellas is the state’s ninth-largest school district, with 85,000 students across 144 public and charter schools.
Of the district’s 6,000 teachers, Hendrick said, 1,000 live in Pasco County and another 500 commute from Manatee and Hillsborough counties because of Pinellas’ high cost of living.
“It is difficult for young teachers to live in Pinellas County,” he said. “But we are one of the top five paying school districts in the state, and that’s because of our local referendum.”
Commission sets tentative millage rate, hearing dates
The commission on June 15 voted 5-0 to set a tentative millage rate of 5.3500 mills for the 2026-27 fiscal year, following the Finance Committee’s recommendation.
Finance Committee Chair Pete Fisher said the panel, which serves as a buffer between residents and the commission and “takes some of the heat off you guys” on financial decisions, met recently and found the city on solid financial footing.
“Expenses seemed to be reduced, and reserves have been set aside for future needs,” Fisher said. “It’s close to $300,000 that’s been put into reserves for future use.”
Given the “uncertainty coming up,” Fisher said, the committee recommended holding the rate at 5.3500 mills, and the commission agreed.
The commission also approved budget hearings for Thursday, Sept. 3, and Monday, Sept. 14, in a 5-0 vote.
Hurricane Expo draws praise
Several commissioners praised city staff — especially City Clerk Alexis Silcox, who coordinated the event — for the well-attended Bluffs Hurricane Expo.
The June 6 event drew a large crowd to the Community Center auditorium, where representatives from dozens of vendors and organizations offered storm preparedness supplies and information.
Silcox thanked the event’s volunteers, vendors and attendees, and said she was glad a Belleair Bluffs resident won the generator raffled off by the local Lowe’s.
“We do get a lot of residents from other, surrounding areas,” Silcox said. “So, I was really happy and excited when the winner for the generator was an actual Belleair Bluffs resident!”
Silcox also called for volunteers to fill several openings on three city advisory boards — the Board of Adjustments, the Planning Board and the Finance Committee.
“We need board members!” she said, citing regular and alternate vacancies.
To apply, contact Belleair Bluffs City Hall at 727-584-2151.