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Schools

Changes in school boundaries given a nod

In past years, parents were in an uproar over changes. This time things ran smoothly because the district worked more closely with parents.

By MARY SPICUZZA
Published February 9, 2006

	Proposed Pasco County Schools' boundary maps including new school locations Chasco Elementary, Fox Hollow Elementary, Gulf Highlands Elementary and Schrader Elementary Oakstead Elementary and Sanders Memorial Elementary Seven Springs Elementary, Trinity Elementary and Trinity Oaks Elementary Dr. John Long Middle, Pine View Middle and Thomas E. Weightman Middle Land O' Lakes High, Wesley Chapel High and Wiregrass Ranch High
	Related story:
	Forums aim to ease boundary worries By Mary Spicuzza School officials hope parents of students affected by the opening of six schools will see the benefits of the changes. Go to article (12/19/05)

LAND O'LAKES - The biggest school boundary change in recent Pasco County history also has been one of the smoothest.

The School Board voted unanimously Tuesday morning to give initial approval to the proposed boundary changes. About 16,000 students could be affected by the opening of six new schools next academic year, but not one parent showed up at the meeting to complain or protest the changes.

"It was a miracle," School Board member Marge Whaley said.

The second and final reading and School Board action on attendance boundaries will be at the School Board meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 21.

Whaley said that in the past, boundary changes had brought with them parental uprisings and protest signs at board meetings.

"Usually we have someone in there crying," she said.

District staff members had worked closely with Pasco parents, holding public forums and meetings.

The boundaries were designed to meet specific guidelines, including providing a balance of racial and economic diversity, feeder patterns, future growth and capacity, transportation, incorporating complete neighborhood communities and considering long-term school construction plans.

But assistant superintendent Ray Gadd and the district's director of planning, Mike Rapp, also worked with staff members to incorporate parent reactions as much as possible while developing boundary changes. The changes will affect somewhere between one-third to one-half of the geographic area of the county.

At the Tuesday meeting, the School Board also voted to purchase a 20-acre parcel behind Mary Giella Elementary School in Shady Hills. The property is intended to serve as the site of a middle school projected to open in the 2008-2009 school year.

The land will cost $55,000 per acre, or $1.1-million total, Gadd said. Its purchase is contingent upon a consistency review by the county, Gadd said.

[Last modified February 9, 2006, 01:30:24]