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JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEKPlanning for nearly 30,000 students by 2014, the school district envisions construction projects that would add 10,000 seats over a decade.
BROOKSVILLE - They have the enrollment projections. They have voter approval for the funding.
On Tuesday, School Board members took the final step needed to begin an ambitious construction program that would add nearly 10,000 new seats to Hernando County public schools during the coming decade.
Vice Chairman Jim Malcolm called the newly approved facilities plan a blueprint that sets tangible goals based on estimated needs. District planners expect enrollment to rise from the current 19,500 to just under 30,000 by 2014.
At the same time, Malcolm added, the board can change the document as population trends require.
"It isn't carved in cement," he said.
The district already has begun working on the project list. Earlier this spring, crews began preparing land on Elgin Boulevard west of Barclay Avenue for a 1,400-student grade K-8 magnet school.
The board also has authorized the purchase of new portable buildings for a 375-student environmental science program at Floyd Elementary School and hired teams to prepare new wings at Central High, Nature Coast Technical High, Powell Middle and Chocachatti Elementary.
Combined, these projects will cost about $39.4-million.
Planning director Heather Martin, meanwhile, is in negotiations to purchase several pieces of land throughout western Hernando for future schools. She also is talking with Pasco-Hernando Community College about the district's buying the college's Spring Hill campus.
PHCC plans to build a new campus closer to U.S. 19, and already has entered an agreement to transfer its cosmetology program to Nature Coast Technical High.
Other items on the list include:
A new middle school for 1,000-1,200 students, possibly on Northcliffe Boulevard, tentatively scheduled to open in the 2006-07 school year at a cost of $35-million.
A new high school, 1,400-1,600 students, location to be determined, 2008-09, $42-million.
A new K-8 school, 1,000-1,200 students, Southern Hills development on U.S. 41, 2008-09, $38-million.
A new elementary school, 800-1,000 students, possibly in the Royal Highlands, 2010-11, $16-million.
A new K-8 school, 1,200-1,400 students, McKethan Road in Ridge Manor, 2012-13, $45-million.
Funding for the construction will come from a newly approved half-percent sales tax, state funds, the district's 2-mill capital outlay tax and some borrowing.
Chairwoman Sandra Nicholson said the County Commission has requested a joint meeting with the School Board to discuss future growth. That session has not been scheduled.
In other business Tuesday, the School Board implemented a new complaint procedure that limits the district's response time, which previously had been without deadlines. The new system took effect immediately.
The board also approved $1.3-million to purchase new math textbooks, to comply with the state's new list of approved books.
- Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at 352-754-6115 or solochek@sptimes.com