Boca Raton continues to have strong demand for public schools. Delray Beach continues to have weaker demand.
The school district’s October enrollment count showed again how money has solved Boca Raton’s school overcrowding problem that became a political issue several years ago. The best example is Calusa Elementary in northwest Boca Raton.
Six years ago, Calusa was the most crowded elementary school in Palm Beach County. Parents, though, liked the school. They resisted proposed boundary changes that would have sent their children to lower-graded schools—in some cases north to Delray Beach. City council members wanted all children in the city to attend school within the city.
Even as the district drew boundaries for Blue Lake Elementary, which opened two years ago, some Calusa parents who lived closer to the new school pushed back. Blue Lake happened because the city donated land next to Don Estridge Middle on Spanish River Boulevard, and then-school board member Frank Barbieri secured construction money budgeted for another school after the land donation fell through.
Now, though, Blue Lake is popular—and still has room to grow. There are 912 students on a campus that can hold 1,006. Meanwhile, Calusa is at only 73% capacity, with 861 students filling what could be 1,184 seats.
Another reason for the improvement is the rebuilding of Addison Mizner and Verde elementaries and the addition of middle-school grades at both campuses. Addison Mizner (1,177 seats) and Verde (1,364) are basically at full capacity. That has helped Boca Raton Middle, once the most crowded in the county. It can hold 1,417 students but has 1,058.
Boca Raton High was another target for criticism as attendance ran several hundred over capacity. But the district cracked down on students who lived outside the school’s boundaries and added capacity elsewhere. At 2,830 students, Boca High is slightly under capacity.
The only crowding problem now is Spanish River High, which has capacity of 2,574 and 2,732 students. Demand is strong at high schools just west of the city—West Boca and Olympic Heights. Both are at capacity.
Omni Middle, near Spanish River, is a comparative outlier at 67% capacity. That could reflect the higher use of private school vouchers. More about that in a moment.
Things could hardly be more different in Delray Beach. Only one of the city’s eight traditional public schools—non-charters—is near capacity. That’s Plumosa Elementary, at 86%. The worst are Carver Middle at 44%—680 students on a campus for 1,552—and Village Academy, at 59%. The others are in the 70%. The city’s only high school, Atlantic, has 1,812 students but room for 2,446.
Districtwide, enrollment is 168,296. That’s a very slight increase—381 students—over last year. But with enrollment dropping dramatically in some large districts in the last two years, local officials probably are relieved. Fewer students means less money from the state.
Enrollment peaked at roughly 192,000 in 2020, as the pandemic began. Charter school enrollment has been steady since then. So, the drop clearly is from the Legislature’s decision to allow parents private school vouchers regardless of income.
Those vouchers, worth about $9,000, don’t draw more students to the area’s established private schools. Tuition is much higher. Vouchers are much more popular at religious schools, which can start up anywhere.
Still, local leaders in Boca Raton and Delray Beach should follow attempts in Tallahassee to increase the vouchers. Good public schools draw not just parents but also businesses.
Barbieri produced for Boca Raton and West Boca over 16 years. His successor, Gloria Branch, takes over at a critical time for public education in this county and in Florida.
School board’s split attention to Delray
Speaking of the school board, the current structure penalizes Delray Beach.
Board members Edwin Ferguson and Erica Whitfield split the city because of how their districts are drawn. Ferguson has five schools, Whitfield has three. Like Barbieri, Branch has only schools in Boca Raton and West Boca.
Some years ago, the board created a minority-majority district that would increase the chance of a Black candidate winning. Indeed, since its creation, District 7 has had a Black representative. Ferguson succeeded Deborah Robinson. Creating that district, though, meant splitting cities such as Delray Beach to include more minority neighborhoods.
Though board members set policy districtwide, they pay particular attention to schools within their districts. They are elected only by voters within their districts.
Branch lives in Boca Raton. Barbieri lived in West Boca. Ferguson lives in West Palm Beach. Whitfield lives in Lake Worth. Ferguson’s priority is a new high school for Riviera Beach. Whitfield has come to Delray Beach City Commission meetings and delivered perfunctory remarks. Ferguson is scheduled to speak at Tuesday’s meeting.
Delray Beach city commissioners regularly have vented about facilities at city schools and academic performance. They want to improve both. One idea might be to lobby for a new district in which Delray Beach is not an afterthought.
More details on new Boca downtown campus
More details have emerged from one of the two bidders seeking to redevelop the 30 acres around Boca Raton City Hall.
Terra/Frisbie has submitted a term sheet to go with its original proposal. The project would include 1,163 apartments, a 130-room hotel, 150,000 square feet of office space and lots of retail and restaurant operations.
In return, Terra/Frisbie would build a new city hall and other public facilities. According to the term sheet, Terra/Frisbie would devote $80 million to those projects.
The city council, which has decided to seek additional offers, will get an update Monday on the downtown campus. Before the council Tuesday is a contract with the city’s consultant on the effort. I’ll have more next week.
FAU hires new head football coach
Florida Atlantic University changed its recent model to hire a new head football coach.
The last three—Lane Kiffin, Willie Taggart and Tom Herman—came to FAU after being fired from big-time programs. This time, FAU chose someone who didn’t need a job because he had just lost one.
Zach Kittley has been offensive coordinator at Texas Tech, a member of the Power 5 Big 12 Conference. Under Kittley this year, the Red Raiders rank eighth nationally in points per game and tenth in yards per game. At 33, Kittley becomes the youngest head coach in the top tier of college football that previously was called Division I.
In 2021, Kittley served as offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers led the nation in passing yards per game. They scored 59 points in winning the Boca Raton Bowl, after which Kittley returned to Texas Tech, his alma mater. In a prior role, he helped to coach Patrick Mahomes, who has won three Super Bowls quarterbacking the Kansas City Chiefs.
Since 2005, the Owls have had just five winning seasons. Two came under Kiffin, when FAU won 11 games in 2017 and 2019 before Kiffin left for the University of Mississippi. FAU fired Tom Herman this year with two games left in a 3-9 season.
Kittley signed a five-year contract worth $6 million. His official title is Hagerty Family Head Football Coach. In 2021, Michelle and Michael Hagerty donated $2.5 million toward the football program.
More on Delray lawsuit filed by former fire chief
After a judge denied Delray Beach’s motion to dismiss the wrongful termination lawsuit by former Fire Chief Keith Tomey, the city restated its arguments against Tomey’s claims.
Tomey claims that City Manager Terrence Moore fired him as retaliation after Tomey accused Moore of sexual harassment. An outside investigation found that the allegation was unsupported. Tomey also sought whistleblower status, which the city says he does not qualify for.
In the termination letter, Moore said he fired Tomey because of several policy violations. The city argues that there remains no link between the allegation and the firing.
Life Time opens in West Boca
Uptown Boca has added another noted tenant.
Life Time, the publicly traded fitness company, will open an upscale athletic club in the mixed-use project on Glades Road just east of State Road 7. Life Time West Boca is scheduled to open late next year. It will join five other outlets in Florida, including one in East Boca.
Uptown Boca persevered through the pandemic, managing to complete the 456 apartments and roughly 160,000 square feet of retail space. The neighborhood covers 38 acres.
