LCSS and Your Money!

 

Oh dang!  Here she goes again about Lee County School System!

This article appears in this morning's Herald:

Code, safety concerns surround LCHS fence

by Will Doran

SANFORD — Just as the Lee County Board of Education thought renovations to Lee County High School were finally finished, one more unexpected cost — to address public safety at the school — might have to be added to the $20.8 million already spent.

The refurbishments to the high school, parts of which are up to 60 years old, will be officially unveiled at 5 p.m. Sept. 11, after which the school board will conduct its monthly meeting at the school. But while community members are getting a tour of the work that has been done at the school, another project may have just gotten under way: making the school's fence near Nash Street easy to breach in case students and staff need to escape or evacuate.

Sanford Fire Marshal Ken Cotton said he informed the school district that it would need to install about nine crash bars — which is the technical term for the everyday device that, when pushed, easily opens a door or gate — several weeks ago. The bars, which could collectively cost up to $8,000, would theoretically prevent students and staff from being trapped in an emergency. However, the order hasn't been received well by school officials.

Read more: Sanford Herald - Code safety concerns surround LCHS fence

Not received well?  Code is code.  And you have to meet it.  I understand safety issues.  I want my kids safe.  Heck I want ALL kids safe.  Regardless of what the liberals try to portray.

Looks as if, according to the article, taxpayers should  expect costs to be around $8-9000  but until bids are taken, who knows!  Get the freaking gates if they are required.  And Mr. Cotten states in the piece they are.  So buy them!

But what caught my eye...is quite interesting.  From the article:

"The district has about $230,000 left over to either use or give back to the county, which bankrolled the project, so even with the $8,000 gates and other last-minute changes, the district will almost certainly return more than $200,000 to the county, Moss said" 

Say what?  Can someone explain 1) am I seeing funny or is Jeff Moss stating money would go BACK to the county?  And 2)  why in the world did they come to the Board of Commissioners for money to pave the parking lot at Lee Senior if they had it to begin with?

I'm sure some of you "in the know" will give me statute on how money is spent.  Please do.  Because it doesn't make sense for a Superintendent to keep nitpicking the taxpayers for money to do stuff (like paving parking lots) when they have it!

Isn't it time to require line item expenditures from the Lee County School System?  I think so.   And the school board members better get use to the hard questions and accountability we demand.