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Plan may put freshmen in new time zone
By KENT FISCHER, Times Staff Writer
LAND O'LAKES -- Beginning next school year, ninth-graders at crowded Land O'Lakes High School will start, and end, their school day an hour later than other Gator students. The school hopes that trimming the student body of about 600 freshmen for an hour each day and then making them stay later will help administrators get a better handle on crowding, and make the school feel a lot smaller. If it works, other high schools -- River Ridge and Ridgewood High in particular -- will likely follow suit. Land O'Lakes High, built to house 1,437 students, is home to 1,869 kids. The school gave all its students the option of switching to a later schedule this year, but few volunteered. "It's just so crowded that we have to do something," said Bob Dorn, the district administrator in charge of high schools. "Until the new high school is built, we will see more schools going to something like this." The morning bell at Land O'Lakes rings at 7:40 a.m., while classes end at 1:55 p.m. Freshmen next year likely will start their day at 8:40 a.m., and they won't get out until nearly 3. Dorn and Superintendent John Long said the change will happen, but many of the details still need to be worked out. Of the district's nine high schools, only Gulf High has the luxury of too much space. Every other one is overcrowded. The district, in fact, is short by about 1,563 high school seats: it has space for 14,562 students, but enrolls 16,125. The proposed new schedule for Land O'Lakes ninth-graders will affect an estimated 600 kids, most of whom are now eighth-graders at Pine View Middle School. Those Pine View studentsstart school each morning about 8:40. Administrators want to target ninth-graders because it makes managing class schedules and extracurricular activities easier. It also captures a large enough population of the student body -- about one-third of it -- to make a dent in Land O'Lakes' crowding. The shift in start times won't come without a cost, but school officials have not yet put a price tag on the change. For starters, the district will need to add new, later bus routes to get the ninth-graders to school. Land O'Lakes isn't expected to get any permanent relief from crowding until a high school is built to serve the burgeoning suburbs in south central Pasco. That, however, isn't going to happen until August 2006 at the earliest, when the district hopes to open a high school in Wesley Chapel. "The key is getting new schools built, but in the meantime, Land O'Lakes is to the point where we have to do something," said Superintendent Long. The schedule change "is a Band-Aid on a big problem. It's not a long-term solution." The proposal probably will go to the School Board for approval in March or April, Dorn said. The idea isn't entirely new; several schools in Hillsborough County are doing something similar. To do nothing, Dorn said, likely would mean putting Land O'Lakes High on double sessions, where the student body would attend classes on a rotating basis. He sees the proposed late start for freshmen as a compromise. "The biggest advantage (to the proposal) is that it's not as disruptive as double sessions," Dorn said. "There is no lost instructional time. This is a (compromise) that we hope will work." -- Kent Fischer covers education in Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6241 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6241. His e-mail address is kfischer@sptimes.com .
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