Funds pulled from stalled school project

School officials say a new high school is still planned, but it could wind up closer to Odessa.

By BILL COATS

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 9, 2000

LUTZ -- Money for the stalled Lutz high school has been taken away, increasing the likelihood that when the project is revived, it will be closer to Odessa than the heart of Lutz.

This week's unanimous vote by the Hillsborough County School Board came only after board members were assured that the quest for a high school in Lutz, or somewhere close, was not being abandoned, just reassessed.

"We still have that in the five-year plan," said Superintendent Earl Lennard.

Administrators insisted they still could put a high school at N Dale Mabry Highway and Lutz-Lake Fern Road, the site chosen in 1998, even though a Publix may go there first.

But Jack Davis, the school system's assistant superintendent for operations, said he also is talking to owners of potential high school sites closer to the corridor of the Suncoast Parkway.

Davis wouldn't specify the sites. He said the property owners contacted the school system, and he invited others to do the same.

The Suncoast, which is under construction between Dale Mabry and Gunn Highway, runs through one of the busiest growth areas in northwest Hillsborough. Officials want to assess how such growth affects student populations before buying the next high school site.

New homes are being built on both flanks of Dale Mabry, but the volume is likely to favor a high school to the west. Developments along Lutz-Lake Fern Road are bringing hundreds of new homes. Developments east of Dale Mabry, which is the older section of Lutz, are averaging about 20.

School administrators also noted that delaying a year or so will let them see how a variety of new school construction projects will handle the growth. Several are scheduled for completion by August of next year, ending double sessions at Gaither and Sickles high schools:

A new high school in Town 'N Country for 2,520 students.

Classroom additions at Gaither, Sickles and Wharton high schools accommodating more than 1,000 extra students.

In August 2002, two more schools are to open:

A second high school in New Tampa, accommodating 2,510 students.

A vocational high school in the University of South Florida area, accommodating 600 students.

The vocational high school, costing $10.6-million, and the Gaither addition, costing $2.7-million, would come from the $33-million that was reallocated Tuesday night from the Lutz high money. Another $12.7-million would pay for accelerated renovations at Buchanan Middle School and Lutz Elementary School. Finally, $5.6-million would be used to build a new elementary school in the University of South Florida area.

None of those new schools was planned in 1996 because of financial constraints then. School planners feared that a single high school, funded by the same sales tax increase that paid for Raymond James Stadium, would have to handle growth for years.

They chose Lutz for its central location. But the site search was complicated by new land use rules and neighborhood opposition.

"We've spent more time trying to find a site in Lutz than all the other sites put together," complained Joe Newsome, who is in his 22nd year on the School Board. "All the other sites."

Now, the Lutz site is being opposed in a lawsuit by neighbors. A shopping center developer owns rights to part of it and is pursuing a rezoning for a Publix.

Those obstacles have loomed for more than a year, making Tuesday night's School Board vote somewhat anticlimactic.

Only one person spoke during a public hearing on the question. Connie Schmitt, one of the most enduring supporters of the school system's efforts in Lutz, voiced concerns.

"The land is selling fast," she said. "I hope that you wouldn't give away the site that you have worked three years for."

Bill Coats can be reached at 226-3469 or coats@sptimes.com.

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