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Local high-schoolers crowd the streets en route to the sands, but prepared Clearwater officials are helping to smooth the event's rough edges.
By ED QUIOCO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 25, 2003
CLEARWATER -- Ask Davin Homan why he decided to spend his spring break hanging out at Clearwater Beach, and you'll hear a simple answer.
"Everybody's here," said Homan, a 16-year-old student at Countryside High School.
That summed up the situation at the beach on Monday, the first day of spring break for students in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. Historically, Tampa Bay area high school students spend much of their spring break cutting loose at Clearwater Beach.
For them, it's a see-and-be-seen vibe. For police officers, it can be somewhat of a challenge.
"This is going to be the busiest week," said Wayne Shelor, spokesman for the Clearwater Police Department.
The spring break scene got going at the beginning of this month when college students from all over the country headed to the beach for some fun and sun. So far, Shelor said, the college crowd has been well behaved.
High school students, however, can be a handful.
"The high-schoolers traditionally are a little rowdier than the college kids," Shelor said.
Plus, if visiting college students have too much to drink, they can sleep it off at their hotel rooms. But when high school students spend the day drinking illegally at the beach, they still have to get in their cars and drive home.
"That's a particular danger for the high school kids," Shelor said. "And that is in the forefront of the officers' minds."
Monday, the beach parking lots began filling up by 9 a.m. Shortly after lunchtime, Cleveland Street was gridlocked with honking cars. Many were filled with students talking on their cell phones or with each other. Some blared rap music with their windows rolled down.
At the beach, vacant parking spots were scarce.
Kristen Wilson, 18, and her friend Stephanie Rosas, 21, lucked out. They found a spot within minutes of the beach.
"We saw someone pulling out, so we attacked," said Rosas of Brandon. "We claimed it and put the turn signal on."
When asked what drew them to Clearwater, they had the same answer.
"It's where everybody comes," Rosas said. "Everybody comes here, all of our friends."
Other than spending 45 minutes to an hour to get from downtown Clearwater to the beach, most students had little complaints and said the scene was laid back.
"Everybody's just chilling," said Sarah Schroeder, 17, a student at Tarpon Springs High School.
Some high-schoolers came from as far north as Citrus County. Scott O'Steen, 18, a senior at Crystal River High School, came to Clearwater with five of his friends. They rented out a hotel room on U.S. 19.
For the most part, he said, everyone's been well-behaved. Clearwater has a reputation for being more laid back than the other spring break destinations like Daytona Beach and Panama City, he said.
"I think a lot of people have learned not to push the limit," O'Steen said. "It's not like in Daytona where you get away with a lot more."
It may have been too early on Monday to tell whether the high school crowd would stimulate business on the beach. But by the middle of the week, business probably will pick up, said Beth LeVasseur, one of the managers at Britt's Cafe on the beach.
"You can definitely tell that there was more people out this morning," LeVasseur said.
It was also a good time to remind servers that they needed to be especially vigilant about checking identifications to prevent underage drinking, especially since the beach will be filled with high school students, LeVasseur said.
To help beachgoers navigate through the traffic jams, Clearwater officials have set up a radio broadcast on 1610 AM that gives drivers traffic updates, alternative routes and parking information. The city has budgeted $6,000 to broadcast recorded messages for 90 days. It began broadcasting Friday.
"It's certainly worth a try, especially in light of all the construction that is going on," said Garry Brumback, Clearwater assistant city manager. "With downtown as under repair as it is, we are willing to try almost anything to make the lives of both our citizens and our tourists easier."
Local students have been spending spring breaks at Clearwater Beach for decades, so police officers are used to it by now, Shelor said. The Police Department beefed up the patrols at the beach to help with traffic and enforcement.
There are many high school students who do behave themselves while at the beach. But there is a difference between the high school crowd and the college crowd, Shelor said.
"A significant number of high school students tend to get out of hand," Shelor said, "whereas the overwhelming majority of college kids who come to Clearwater Beach are well-behaved. We have not had an event of note involving spring breakers so far. We'll see if I can say that a week from today."