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New Bryant principal wants to stay the course

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published August 28, 2005

WESTCHASE - Karen Bass doesn't want to change Bryant Elementary School too much.

"I knew when I was wanting to come here that this was going to be an optimal experience, that I was going to come into a situation that was just an A+

school in every way," said Bass, 56, who took over as Bryant principal Wednesday. That doesn't mean the school at Race Track Road and Nine Eagles Drive will sit still.

"My plans are to support what has already been started and to move forward with the support of everyone on this campus, to make this an even better place," Bass said.

She spoke of taking a closer look at student test scores, so the teachers can hone in on children who do not perform as well as others. The school might earn an A from the state and meet all federal progress guidelines, but not everyone is scoring at top levels. "There's always room for improvement," she said.

Bryant, the district's most crowded elementary school, also has traffic problems and space concerns. Bass said the school needs to find "creative ways" to resolve these matters, and vowed to enlist the ideas of staff, parents and the greater community.

Many teachers and children already knew Bass. She was the original assistant principal at nearby Westchase Elementary, from 1998 through 2003.

Before Westchase, Bass, who lives in Keystone, worked at Lowry Elementary as an administrative resource teacher. She started her career in Hillsborough County schools as a teacher at Lutz Elementary.

For the past two years, she was principal of Folsom Elementary in Thonotosassa. Bass said the experience at the school, which has a much higher population of low-income students than her new school, served her well in understanding different aspects of elementary education.

"I feel like it made me a better principal," she said.

But the 19-year district veteran, who has taught since 1973, was ready to come home.

She replaces Debi Veranth, the school's founding principal. Veranth was promoted this month to be the district's director of administration.

- Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at 813 269-5304 or solochek@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 27, 2005, 11:05:06]