move to Sarasota from NY for Pine View School? (fit in, rent)

[jnanner]

we are considering moving to sarasota for the pine view school in osprey. we have family an hour in most directions and have visited the area and school already. we would only move if we can bring our tele-commuting jobs with us. we are looking at the communties in palmer ranch but will rent for at least 6 months to feel it out.

i'd like to know if anyone else here has moved from long island (or similar) for the school and how you have found the whole experience.

having a free gifted school will save us a fortune in tuition but we would like to know how it compares to northern schools and if we can fit in.

thanks!

[Peter the Brit]

It may save you a fortune but you may find that will be shortlived as if the proposed penny tax is not renewed which seems probable then the education budget will be cut and Pine View may be one to receive some axing or a total chop!

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by Peter the Brit

It may save you a fortune but you may find that will be shortlived as if the proposed penny tax is not renewed which seems probable then the education budget will be cut and Pine View may be one to receive some axing or a total chop!

I'm sure PV's budget would be severely hurt but I highly doubt it would go under due to axing the proposed referendum.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by jnanner

we are considering moving to sarasota for the pine view school in osprey. we have family an hour in most directions and have visited the area and school already. we would only move if we can bring our tele-commuting jobs with us. we are looking at the communties in palmer ranch but will rent for at least 6 months to feel it out.

i'd like to know if anyone else here has moved from long island (or similar) for the school and how you have found the whole experience.

having a free gifted school will save us a fortune in tuition but we would like to know how it compares to northern schools and if we can fit in.

thanks!

PV gives tours at certain times of the year and I would suggest trying to schedule a visit during one of these times. You'll get a really good feeling for the school.

I have no experience with the schools up north but I do have two children that attend PV. We have been there for about eight years now and absolutely love it. I could go on and on about the school. I have written several blogs about PV that are in my profile on this website.

[Peter the Brit]

I'm sure PV's budget would be severely hurt but I highly doubt it would go under due to axing the proposed referendum.
That is not what I am hearing
There are many Sarasota County taxpayers who question the cost of having a school for the gifted based here and being funded by local and not federal or State taxes. In a recession when cuts have to be made from the public school budgets I see strength in the argument though I do not support it.

[jnanner]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

PV gives tours at certain times of the year and I would suggest trying to schedule a visit during one of these times. You'll get a really good feeling for the school.

I have no experience with the schools up north but I do have two children that attend PV. We have been there for about eight years now and absolutely love it. I could go on and on about the school. I have written several blogs about PV that are in my profile on this website.

i just got back from sarasota. i visited the school last week. it seems nice. we are in a gifted private school in NY currently.

i've read some stuff you wrote about PV, maybe it was your blog. the school looks pretty good and offers some enrichment we don't have currently. Was hoping to get some feedback from anyone that has made a similar change.

[loves2read]

the way to ensure that people have a quality program in their public schools and responsible management from the school board is to VOTE for people who DO know about how to manage tax income for the best needs of the students and district
so if people/voters don't like how the current board is handling things then vote them OUT...but don't handicap the students/teachers by pulling the rug out from under their feet because you are mad at the school board's decision--
that is like spanking a child when the parents left it inside the car at 7-11

frankly I agree that some of the decisions by the Sarasota county school board relating to this tax initiative and how it manages the district's budget seem designed to make their constituents/the public angry, mistrustful, and hostile enough to vote against the tax on March 16

all that is going to do is HURT the students because the initial impact of that blow apparently will be to make teachers leave the profession--you can't assume or hope that the ones leaving are the worst teachers or those with higher salaries or closer to retirement--
in fact it is probably the opposite which might prove to be true

some information I have read about pros/cons to the tax initiative have lead me to think the school board is out of touch with thinking of constituents--and don't understand that losing that vote is a viable choice for people who are upset, fearful, and tired -- it is backlash for the recent turmoil in the financial sector, the fear of rising taxes on all levels and government that is non-responsive to the people
the school board apparently
--does not having a contingency plan in case the initiative fails,

was not willing to wait for the Nov general election for the vote and authorized 500K to have a special election --
apparently on the advice of "experts" hired by the board to advise on how to manage this tax vote

spending that extra money seems designed to antagonize people focused on wasteful spending who will be happy to vote against rather than draw a select (smaller) group of voters that would endorse the tax...from what I inferred...

but this info on the district's site gives some financial info that might put this "tax" in perspective
More about millage
One mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of property value above the homestead exemption of $25,000. The average taxable value of a single-family home in the county in 2009 is about $167,000. The owner of a homesteaded house with that value pays $142 a year, or about 39 cents a day, for the 1-mill levy. Even with the voted millage included, homeowners in 54 of Florida’s 67 counties pay a higher school millage rate than we do in Sarasota County.
the COST comes because Sarasota county has many homes that are valued at more than 167K--
and those residents --many of whom are probably retired and moved here from out of state and don't have ANY children in public schools in FL--feel absolutely NO OBLIGATION to "provide for the common welfare" of Florida residents by having schools that are better than mediocre--

I also read a comment to an article in the Herald Tribune.com site about the tax issue
Do Sarasota schools need tax continued? | Political Insider

that said there are people out there who want the public schools to fail because it will give private industry a chance to step in (even more than the current presence) and "save" education...

everyone should realize that education IS everyone's "dog" so to speak and everyone has a dog in the fight to educate and prepare students so that they are capable of supporting themselves at more than minimum wage, participating effectively in society, and taking citizenship seriously...
and that doesn't mean reactionary responses that only cut off the nose of the person making the decisions...

frankly FL is reaping the whirlwind for touting itself as a place for people to retire and count their money...

[Scythykins]

Originally Posted by Peter the Brit

I'm sure PV's budget would be severely hurt but I highly doubt it would go under due to axing the proposed referendum.
That is not what I am hearing
There are many Sarasota County taxpayers who question the cost of having a school for the gifted based here and being funded by local and not federal or State taxes. In a recession when cuts have to be made from the public school budgets I see strength in the argument though I do not support it.

Said many times that my wife is a 2nd grade teacher in a district where reading recovery and gifted programs are being axed (in Illinois.) No Child Left Behind is a joke. Gifted programs are almost always the first to go when budget cuts come up...it's not No Child Left Behind, it's No Child Gets Ahead. Bravo to Sarasota for having a publicly funded gifted school. I hope we can live near it and my wife hopes she can teach there. If more districts in the country were as progressive thinkers as the district was when Pine View was established, we wouldn't have to worry about an entire generation having the specialty skill of "Would You Like Fries With That."

Reminder to those who are retiring or will be retired in the next 10-20 years: the kids who you cut taxes on today are reaching their peak earning years exactly when they will be funding your Social Security!!!! Having an amazing school system will keep a community thriving, and will convince more medical professionals, financial advisers, and entrepreneurs to come to the area. These are the people that will be providing services to you in your retirement.

I'm done with my soapbox...anyone else want to have a go?



To the OP. We're going to be moving before we have kids, but being able to get into Pine View is a top priority for us, both from our future kids standpoint and my wife's teaching standpoint. Every school is going to have pros and cons nationwide, but PV seems to be focused on curriculum than some of the schools in the Northeast that exist more for reputation than quality. Biggest drawback that I see is that the kids won't be as well connected as they might be in New York, but that brings up quality of life issues. Sure you can make 200k/yr in New York...and barely break the poverty line! Or make less in SWFL but have the dollar go further. I don't even want to think about what your taxes look like on the island, muchless the cost of a 3BR/2BA house. I have a good amount of family on LI, many of them are coming south too!

[loves2read]

don't count on getting a job at PineView if you move anytime in next few years--or in Sarasota schools

my daughter who teaches at PineView told us last night that if the tax measure is defeated that she very likely could be furloughed to another Sarasota county school--and she hopes that she has enough tenure not to be terminated--
she is not intimidated by possibility that she might be sent to another school--because she taught in TX for several years before moving to FL in school that was Title 1 with lower-socio-economic/racially diverse students--in some ways, she prefers teaching to that demographic--she took the PineView job initially because it was the closest one to where she moved--and of course for PineView's rep--

losing her job entirely--well, that is different story--
she said yesterday she and other teachers and a teacher's son who is at Pine View were picketing in support of the initiative and somone (older man) drove by and yelled out his window that they were "Communists" and should leave the state==
the boy--who is in 5 th grade I think she said--asked her what the man said--and when she told him--
he thought for a second and yelled back--"We aren't Communists--we are more like Socialists"...

my daughter just said--"you got to love those Pine View kids" because what other school would have a student who would appreciate the nuance of the difference or the injustice of the accusation...

[OAC]

Is it possible to determine if your child qualifies for acceptance into Pineview before you establish residency in Sarasota?