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Officials keen on combined K-8 school
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer
BROOKSVILLE -- The Hernando County School Board is sold on the idea of a joint elementary and middle school for its next construction project. Board members said Tuesday they liked the concept because research shows such a school appears to ease social tensions for adolescents and lead to improved academic results, while reducing student populations at other campuses. They acknowledged, though, that the earliest a new school could open is 2005 -- if all funding sources fall into place. Crowding, meanwhile, is a problem now. J.D. Floyd and Pine Grove elementary schools, for instance, are bursting with more than 1,000 students each while Eastside and Moton elementary schools have several available seats. So the board, during its workshop Tuesday afternoon, directed Superintendent Wendy Tellone to begin drafting plans to alter attendance zones for elementary schools, and possibly middle schools, for the 2003-04 academic year. "A number of schools at this point are looking at being just not handleable," board Chairman John Druzbick said. "I think now is the best time to do it," board member Sandra Nicholson said. Tellone said she would have her staff bring rezoning recommendations to the board in February. The board intends to formally adopt the K-8 concept for its next school at its meeting next week. Only new information showing that other K-8 schools are failing miserably because of the configuration would sway the outcome, board members indicated. Rather than debate the merits of such a setup, board members focused their workshop discussion on how the school would operate, how many students it might house and what type of curriculum it might offer. Board member Jim Malcolm suggested that the younger children, perhaps through sixth grade, could be taught in one part of the school, separated from the older youths. Nicholson was not so keen on such strict segregation. She did not buy the notion that the middle school-age children could not behave well around the kindergarteners and other elementary students. "Yeah, there are going to be some kids that are going to be troublemakers," she said. "But my experience is, kids are kids. . . . If we tell them we expect them to be good citizens and role models, I don't see middle school kids on a one-on-one basis as so bad that they have to be separated." Facilities director Graydon Howe told the board that he believed the school could be designed either way. Regardless, he urged the board to consider building a school large enough to justify the playing fields and specialty classrooms that middle school students require. The board asked Howe to look into a school for 1,200 to 1,400 students. Board members also told Tellone to seek proposals from educators for possible magnet concepts for the school. Math and science was one idea mentioned. "My preference would be another magnet school," Malcolm said. "But you have to have someone coming forward with a plan." He then broached the sensitive topic of how to pay for the construction. Druzbick noted that several counties, including Manatee and Volusia, recently have won voter approval for long-term sales taxes for new schools. "It just makes so much sense," Druzbick said. Other board members agreed that a new sales tax probably would be the best revenue source. A state loan program is a second choice, they said. Even though the board has pledged to let the current half-cent sales tax lapse and not seek another until Nature Coast Technical High School opens next fall, Malcolm said the time is right to begin seeking input on the idea of a renewed tax. "We have to see what is politically palatable for Hernando County," he said. "It's one thing to say, 'I know what we need.' What you can get, despite what you need, might be quite different." Also during Tuesday's workshop, the board decided it would not pursue having a voting representative on the county Planning and Zoning Commission. Its lawyer had sent a letter to the county in November asking for a voting member. The board signaled its desire, however, to be included in the county's comprehensive plan review effort and mentioned the idea of adding a public schools element to the plan. -- Jeffrey S. Solochek covers education in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6115. Send e-mail to solochek@sptimes.com .
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