New Florida law may limit public school construction

Implementation of a new state law may put extra limits on construction spending by local school districts. Governor Rick Scott this month signed an education bill that extends construction spending caps per student from only state-funded projects to locally funded projects, too.

The caps currently range from about $21,615 per student for an elementary school and $23,341 for a middle school to $30,318 for a high school. State representative Erik Fresen, a Miami Republican, told the Orlando Sentinel the new law doesn’t limit local control of school construction but instead “prevents irrational decisions” with respect to construction planning. [Orlando Sentinel] — Mike Seemuth