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Westchase school delayed
By JOSH ZIMMER © St. Petersburg Times, published January 7, 2001 WESTCHASE -- Responding to parents' concerns, the Hillsborough County School District has pushed back its construction schedule for the newest elementary school in this fast-growing area. Instead of trying to open the school this August, the district will wait another year, said Bill Person, district director of pupil administrative services. The decision stemmed from recent discussions with parents, who opposed setting attendance boundaries before the district better understood the impact of new home building. The continued expansion of Westchase, as well as the Eagles and Westchester subdivisions near Nine Eagles Drive, is expected to add hundreds of new students. Construction on another development with hundreds of homes is scheduled to begin within 60 days off Racetrack Road, just north of the intersection with Nine Eagles Drive. "There's a lot of controversy involved here," Person said. "Obviously, it's a very emotional issue. Some people don't want their community divided." Between now and summer, district planners will study growth patterns before resuming public talks with parents in the fall, he said. "I have no doubt" the as-yet-unnamed elementary school will open in August 2002, he said. The district hopes to open the area's new middle school at the same time, Person said. The schools, with a planned capacity of 2,335 students, are slated for 20 acres at Nine Eagles Drive. A new high school will open this August near Countryway. Westchase Elementary PTA president Maggie Haley said parents are eager to avoid the crowding problems plaguing that school and Davidsen Middle School. Both were built to relieve overpopulation but quickly fell behind. District officials floated several plans for sending students to different local schools, but the parents' main goal became clear: Keep Westchase children at Westchase Elementary. Haley criticized the district's past handling of overcrowding, saying the response has regularly uprooted children and forced them into temporary settings while construction is planned or undertaken. Westchase is a prime example, she said. The school accepted many Lowry students to lessen crowding there, but Westchase now is at 148 percent of capacity, she said. Lowry, meanwhile, has extra room. Fawn Ridge parent Kelli Gasquez said some Westchase students have moved five times between Citrus Park School, portables at Lowry, Lowry's main facilities, portables again at Lowry while Westchase was built, and finally Westchase itself. "This is going to be a heated debate ... because everybody wants their kid to stay at Westchase," said Gasquez, whose twin second-graders attend Westchase. "There's going to be lots of subdivisions affected one way or the other. You have the possibility of Westchase being split. There's no use to getting this community up in arms. Our feeling was doing it right and the county agreed."
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