The School Board will obtain 14 acres in Wesley Chapel from the county for an 816-student elementary school to open in fall 2005.
By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published May 5, 2004
LAND O'LAKES - The Pasco County School District has secured land for a new elementary school to open in Wesley Chapel.
School Board members on Tuesday signed off on plans to obtain 14 acres in the Seven Oaks residential development for an 816-student school.
It is scheduled to open in fall 2005 and will relieve crowding at nearby Wesley Chapel Elementary.
"We've been trying to get this done for a while," superintendent John Long said.
The $245,192 land deal is with Pasco County government, said Long and School Board attorney Nancy Alfonso. The county obtained the land from developer Craig Weber as impact fee credit and is, in turn, deeding it to the school district.
"We have the deed, so the property is ours and we're proceeding," said John Petrashek, director of new school construction for the district.
The land, which was going for $17,500 per acre, is located midway between State Road 54 and State Road 56, west of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. School officials have been considering the parcel since April 2003, Long said.
Built for 748 students two years ago, Wesley Chapel Elementary has more than 1,160 now and is expected to grow in enrollment next year. With 57,000 students and more than 2,000 others expected to enroll every year, the Pasco County School District is the fifth-fastest growing in the state.
The Seven Oaks elementary, which has not yet been named, is expected to open at the same time as another elementary in the Long Leaf residential development in west Pasco off State Road 54.
