Schools

Gifted center site switched

The School Board likely will shift the program from Challenger K-8 to Explorer K-8 to save money.

By TOM MARSHALL, Times Staff Writer
Published February 6, 2008

Hernando County's newest school, Explorer K-8, is expected to be completed and ready for 2,100 students by August.
	[Maurice Rivenbark | Times]

BROOKSVILLE - Hernando County's planned gifted education center took a westward hop on the map Tuesday after a majority of School Board members changed their minds about where to put it.

Meeting at an afternoon workshop, three of the five members said they'd likely vote later that evening to move the center from Challenger K-8 School of Science and Mathematics in Spring Hill to the nearby Explorer K-8 under construction off Northcliffe Boulevard.

The change left district staff stunned. Two weeks earlier, the board had lent its support to Challenger and asked staff members to prepare a detailed analysis on the financial impact.

Moving the center to the new Explorer would clearly save the district much of the $97,000 in renovation costs and $315,000 in equipment costs to reconfigure Challenger classrooms for new uses, said Ken Pritz, executive director of facilities and support operations.

But it wasn't clear Tuesday whether the move to Explorer would bring new costs, and officials said a portion of the savings might be canceled out by higher transportation expenses.

Under either plan, the district would move up to 575 students designated as gifted to a central location next fall, in order to provide them with more focused services.

Most board members, as well as a vocal group of parents and teachers, agree that the district has not done an adequate job of identifying or teaching such children.

Under state law, students who meet gifted criteria on intelligence assessments receive around $2,100 in extra state funding to pay for specialized services.

At Challenger, the gifted center would occupy 16 classrooms and two computer labs in kindergarten through eighth grade, with some teachers doubling up due to limited space in the 1,475-student school.

Those crowded conditions, and the possibility that the gifted program might soon outgrow its home, prompted board member John Sweeney to raise the possibility of using the 2,100-student facility at Explorer instead.

Chairwoman Sandra Nicholson quickly agreed, saying the alternative would endanger the existing magnet program at Challenger.

"It really concerns me to put the program into a school, knowing in a year or two we might have to move it," she added.

Board member Jim Malcolm didn't budge from his support for Challenger, and Dianne Bonfield said she didn't support either proposal. That left Pat Fagan, who lent his support to the Explorer plan to prevent a deadlock.

But one parent later said the location switch might prompt fewer parents to send their gifted children to the center.

"It's an unknown entity," said David Bute, a member of a gifted education interest group, referring to the new school. "Challenger is a successful program."

Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1431.

[Last modified February 5, 2008, 21:23:28]