Educators call for at least $858-million in projects, including 25 new schools, to add space and upgrade facilities the Penny for Pasco would help fund.
By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published October 11, 2003
LAND O'LAKES - Twenty-five new schools. Lots of covered walkways. Security systems. Updated fire alarms. Repaired roofs. Resurfaced tracks. And a few new gym floors.
Pasco County school officials rolled out a detailed $858.2-million, 10-year facilities proposal Friday, for the first time incorporating a stream of revenue they hope voters approve in March.
If voters say yes to Penny for Pasco - a 1-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax increase that would last 10 years - the district predicted it would realize $196.8-million more over the life of the tax, all of which would go toward facilities.
According to the plan, the district could combine that new revenue with state money and other capital revenue to build 20 of 25 schools needed to accommodate student growth and state-mandated class-size reduction. The new schools budget would cost $448.8-million. School officials also would earmark $179.6-million for maintenance and renovations at existing schools, as well as millions more in safety upgrades, technology, utilities and more.
And what happens if the sales tax vote fails?
"The world's not going to come to an end, but we're going to have some serious, serious overcrowding issues," superintendent John Long said.
Ray Gadd, school district liaison for the Penny for Pasco movement, said he expected the first things to go would be the renovation and maintenance projects. "That's where the knife will start."
Gadd said the list of renovation and facilities needs was shaped with suggestions from local schools. While everyone recognizes the need for new schools, he said, it's the existing schools that create a lot of interest.
"When I talk to parents, they are equally as concerned about renovations as they are about new schools," Gadd said.
Until Friday, school officials had been saying the Penny for Pasco would help build 12 new schools. Long and planning director Mike Rapp said that number changed when the state issued Pasco new growth projections that put elementary-aged students in higher numbers than previously expected.
Because elementary schools are mandated to house fewer students than high schools, the overall number of schools needed in the county rose. Additionally, chief financial officer Chuck Rushe said, the district was not accounting for the elimination of portable classrooms.
Eighteen schools are needed to accommodate growth of 2,500 students each year, plus eliminate the district's 300 portable classrooms. Seven schools would be built to meet the state's requirements to reduce class-size, though funding for only two of those has been earmarked for the district by the state.
Rushe said that if the Penny for Pasco fails, the district will still be busy trying to build new schools. It will simply take longer. When a similar 1995 sales tax proposal bombed, students didn't stop coming.
"That need didn't go away," Rushe said.
The School Board will vote Nov. 4 on whether to accept the first five years of the facilities spending plan, which includes the Penny for Pasco money.
Officials detail millions for new projects
Pasco County school officials project a need of 25 new schools in the next 10 years, 20 of which they hope to fund with revenues from Penny for Pasco sales tax, class-size reduction money and other capital revenues.
Though five more schools are needed to comply with the state's class-size reduction law, funding for those schools has not been secured.
The plan for new schools calls for spending $448.8-million, not including the cost of the remaining five facilities:
- 14 new elementary schools: eight in the western portion of Pasco, six in the central portion. Each is projected to cost $11.6-million to $12.6 million, but funding for two has not been identified.
- 6 new middle schools: four in the west, two in the east. Each is projected to cost $24.2-million to $27.9-million, but funding for one has not been identified.
- 5 new high schools: three in the west, two in the east. Each is projected to cost $45-million to $49.9-million, but funding for one has not been identified.
- Additionally, Penny for Pasco would contribute to the following renovations and upgrades over 10 years, costing $179.6-million, including $60.8-million in maintenance needs. The list includes the total projected costs, but only some of the actual projects at each school:
- Lake Myrtle Elementary, $1.1-million - chillers, roofing, cafeteria serving line, security system
- Land O'Lakes High, $1.3-million - air handler in gym, resurface track, gym floor replacement, tile cafeteria, athletic field drainage line, repave front loop and stadium driveways.
- Locke Elementary, $1.1-million - media center air conditioning, art classroom, replace windows in older wings
- Maintenance Facility, $20,000 - fire alarm
- Marchman Educational Center, $1.6-million - roofing, HVAC, security system, awnings, auto body class equipment
- Marlowe Elementary, $10,000 - security system
- Mitchell High, $99,500 - covered walkways, security cameras and alarm system
- Moon Lake Elementary, $598,000 - fire alarm, security system, tile cafeteria
- Moore Mickens Education Center, $355,500 - roofing, cafeteria serving lines, alarm system
- Northwest Elementary, $1-million - new multipurpose room, restrooms upgrade, new testing and conference rooms
- Pasco Elementary, $1.3-million - classroom renovation, new cafeteria serving line, security system
- Pasco High, $6-million - gym floor replacement, air handler in gym, two elevators, security system, roofing, replace locker rooms
- Pasco Middle, $5.6-million - new classroom wing, security system, roofing, auditorium renovation, convert cafeteria to classrooms
- Pine View Elementary, $21,600 - covered walkway in parent pickup
- Pine View Middle, $2.9-million - covered walkway, renovate restrooms, roofing, security system
- Various other school projects, $5-million - replace roofing on portable classrooms; resurface elementary play courts; renovate athletic fields; refinish gym floors, bring athletic facilities into code compliance.
