Clearwater Realtors Get Update on Pinellas County Schools Student Assignment Plan
August 7th, 2008 Categories: Clearwater Florida, Community News, Real Estate News
Clearwater Florida - Wednesday I was one of less than 50 Pinellas County REALTORS (out of 9000 members of the Pinellas Realtor Organization) who attended a special presentation by Jim Madden from the Pinellas County Schools.
Mr. Madden is responsible for Pinellas County student school assignments - he joked with us that “he’s got job security” and I can only imagine since education is always a hot topic and changes never make everyone happy.
We recently had changes to the Pinellas County School Choice plan and Clearwater home buyers as well as residents of Pinellas County with school age kids have lots of questions about these changes.
Parents are constantly asking us, Where will by child go to school?” -School Assignment Plans and Pinellas County Real Estate are very inter-connected! That’s why we made sure we were there to get the up-to-date information that is critical to the families relocating or moving that we help on a daily basis. Even people selling their home are curious since this is always important to potential home buyers. The most important thing we took away was the fact that No school is automatic for non-entry level grade students.
If you’re wondering how the Pinellas County School District, one of the largest in the nation got here it was because School Choice (our last assignment method) was court-ordered to end the 30 year desegregation ruling / plan for the Pinellas County School District. The 2007/2008 was the first year that the School District didn’t have specific min / max ratios to manage for each school.
When creating a new plan parents / community members / School Board members found people overwhelmingly wanted a Student Assignment plan that included these 3 things:
- Give us Predictibility
- Still wanted Choice(s)
- Diversity
A major issue is the rising cost of transportation. In the future, Pinellas County will continue to transport students to their school of “Choice” for 4 more years then parents will have to provide transportation to their “non-close-too-home” school.
Note: The new Pinellas County Student Assignement plan doesn’t change anything for Magnet and Fundemental schools
Key Components of the new Pinellas County School Plan
- Transition from the Pinellas County Choice Plan
- Getting Back to Close-to-home schools or zoned schools
- Predictable feeder patterns
- Multiple choice options
- Reduce transportation issues and costs
- Diversity
- Equitable distribution of resources
What Pinellas County Home Buyers / Residents Should know during the Transition Period
- All students except those entering Kindergarten, 6th grade and 9th grade - will stay where ever they were last year
- Students entering Kindergarten, 6th grade and 9th grade will get their close-to-home school this year (or they can also opt for an older sibling’s school)
- New students (not in one of the 3 grades listed above) are assigned on a space available basis to the close-to-home school or the next closest school. The challenge here is that the Florida Class Size Amendment limits the number of students that can be assigned to a school.
- 3 schools were closed this year - South Ward, Largo Central and Riviera Middle that are impacting mid county assignments
Parents - Got More Questions?
- If you have any questions you can contact Jim Madden directly at 727-588-5186 or email him at maddenj@pcsb.org or
- Call the Student Assignment Department at 727-588-6210 or
- District Call Center at 727-587-2020
- Visit their website at www.Pinellask12.fl.us
What do you need to enroll in school? Proof of residency - a power bill, rent receipt, cable bill, phone bill, etc. - in some cases a purchase contract to buy a home or a lease agreement will also be accepted. Exceptions handled on a case by case basis. More details here: Pinellas County Real Estate matches up to Pinellas County Schools
Get 25% more Property tax savings in November
Buying Clearwater Real Estate less Complicated Now
Want more info about all our Clearwater Real Estate - feel free to call Cyndee and Jack,your Pinellas County Realtors at (727) 710-8035. Want to see all the Pinellas County homes for sale - Feel free to search the Tampa Bay MLS.
Cyndee and Jack Haydon, Clearwater Florida Real Estate Agents, Belloise Realty 59 Baymont Street Clearwater FL 33767
Call me at (727) 710-8035
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Tampa Bay Real Estate Agents Guests on Defending Your Dollar AM1040 Today
August 1st, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay News - Good Morning…Today - Saturday August 2nd from 11 - Noon what are you doing? Jack and I have been asked to be the guests for this weeks segment of Defending your Dollar. So if you’re anywhere in the Tampa Bay listening area we hope you’ll listen to Defending Your Dollar on AM 1040 (or watching online) and even call in to discuss real estate topics on your mind. We will be discussing issues effecting the Tampa Bay Real Estate market today. The host, Niamh McAnnally asked us to be prepared to discuss the following topics however the best part is you can call in and ask your own questions!
How to call in or watch the Radio Show
Numbers to call to be part of the show:
- Pinellas & Pasco County 727-577-1040
- Hillsborough County 813-289-1040
- Toll Free 877-355-1040
For our readers out of town you can actually watch the show live on internet at http://wwba1040.com
Real Estate Topics for August 2nd
- What’s the Tampa Bay Real Estate Market Doing Today?
- What’s the Amendment 5 Property Tax proposal all about?
- Tips for selling your Tampa Bay home in todays real estate market
We will add some additional info after the show based on your questions and interests as well.
Additional Helpful Resouces
You can get more details on the upcoming Property Tax Amendment 5 at http://giveme5florida.com and http://election.dos.state.fl.us/initiatives/fulltext/pdf/12-6.pdf
If there were questions you had that didn’t get answered or you just thought of you can always call us at (727) 710-8036 or (727) 710-8035, you can leave them in the comments section or if you want your privacy you can use the “contact us” feature and email us your questions. Thanks for stopping by and checking out our site.
Also is there Tampa Bay Real Estate information you’d like us to include? Features? We are constantly working and re-working this site based on what YOU want - since it’s for you!
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Clearwater Home Sellers Thinking of Renting Home and Buying Another - Act Fast Rules Are Changing
July 26th, 2008 Categories: Clearwater Florida, Homes for Sale, Real Estate News
Clearwater Florida - With Clearwater Real Estate taking longer to sell many people with Clearwater homes for sale (especially those home sellers being relocated this summer) are considering renting out their primary residence and planning to buy a new home in their new location. We also have clients moving to Clearwater in the same boat with homes to sell in other states. Well you should know the Fannie Mae rules just changed and may drastically affect your plans.
Katrina Madewell, a Tampa Realtor we work with who also owns a Tampa Bay mortgage company recently shared the important Mortgage Rules changing August 1, 2008 (this week) and here are some of the important changes she spells out for those considering this option:
“
The latest Fannie Mae Announcement that just came out will affect you or your client. If this is your plan, ANYTIME SOON, you’d better speed up those plans and act this week.
The biggest changes are regarding borrowers who are converting their primary residence to an investment property.
Clearwater / Tampa Mortgages and Home Loans Update
Current mortgage rule: You would just have to get a copy of the rental agreement and lenders could use 75% of the rental agreement as income.
The new Mortgage Rule coming into effect on 8/1/2008 :
- The borrower must have at least 30% equity in the house,
- a copy of the rental agreement and
- proof that the security deposit has been deposited into the borrowers account
If you have a Clearwater home and you can meet all three of these requirements then you can use 75% of the rent as income. However, if the home buyer CAN’T meet ALL 3 new requirements then both mortgage payments would be counted against the borrower when qualifying for a loan. ”
If you are looking for more information check out Page 6 of the Fannie Mae Announcement which covers the new changes in detail or call Katrina Madewell directly at (813) 235-9889. Thanks to Katrina for sharing this Tampa Bay / Clearwater Mortgage update with our readers.
Related Articles:
- Why Tampa Bay Home Sellers Choose Short Sale over Tampa Bay Real Estate Foreclosures
- Clearwater Homes for Sale - 10 Easy Steps to Sell Your Home in Clearwater Florida
- Clearwater Real Estate - Avoid these Top 5 Mistakes to get Clearwater Homes SOLD
- Clearwater Beach Real Estate | If I Buy a Clearwater Beach Condo Can I Rent it Out Weekly?
If you are thinking of buying or selling - Give us a call or start the process using these tools below:
Click on the photos below and meet some of our clients and now friends…we’d love to be YOUR choice too! 
Give us a Call today at (727) 710–8036 or Email Jack at jackhaydon@gmail.com for our complimentary Clearwater Florida Real Estate Comparable Market Analysis!
Jack & Cyndee Haydon,
Belloise Realty
Clearwater Beach, Florida 33767
Our emails: jackhaydon@gmail.com cyndeehaydon@gmail.com
The above information and images are Copyright © 2007 Jack and Cyndee Haydon, Clearwater REALTORS and your Clearwater Florida Real Estate Agents and may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed or published. All rights reserved. Plagiarism will be detected and is punishable by law.
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