Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By B.C. Manion

School districts that want to garner more state dollars need to increase the number of students obtaining industry certifications, Sen. John Legg told Pasco County School Board members at a legislative update on May 7.

“That is the direction that I see the Legislature going over the next couple of years,” said Legg, a Republican whose district represents portions of Pasco and Hillsborough counties.

“We’re talking real, meaningful industry certification – cyber security at the middle school, industry certification at the high school level.

“It is critically important that Pasco kick into gear on this. If you look at Pasco compared to some of our other counties, they’re ahead of us. They’re ahead of us in Hillsborough and Manatee and other areas,” Legg said.

State legislation rewards districts that beef up efforts on this front, the state senator said.

“There are significant dollars — significant dollars — tied to this,” Legg said. The Florida Legislature wants school districts, state colleges and universities to prepare students for jobs in the new economy.

“We’re not talking mom’s economics class or dad’s vo-tech class,” Legg said, adding that school districts will receive additional funding when students complete industry certifications.

The Legislature also has created designations for diplomas, which Legg expects will ultimately link to the state’s Bright Futures Scholarships.

“It is one single diploma that allows for designations, based on the coursework,” he said, explaining that a scholar designation requires students to pass specific end-of-course exams.

“I will be very, very candid. If you start to look at those designations, they start to correlate very closely with Bright Futures Scholarships.

Legislation also gives extra weight for universities to create degrees for jobs linked to the state’s economic security report, Legg said.

The idea of preparing graduates for an evolving work force hits home with the state lawmaker.

“My son is in college. When he gets out of college, he’s not moving back home. I told him, ‘You’re getting a job. You’re working somewhere. Better make sure your degree is something you can get a job in,’ ” Legg said.

Legislators also took on the issue of cyber bullying, Legg said.

“You have a kid that’s off-campus, absolutely terrorizing a kid,” he said. The action takes place off campus, but the repercussions spill onto campus.

“The whole school is in absolute chaos because all of the kids know about it,” Legg said.

“We don’t want to be Internet police,” Legg said, but when harassment occurs off campus and there’s documented evidence, lawmakers want principals to have the ability to remove the perpetrator from school.

“You want a calm campus at all times,” said Legg, who is co-founder of Day Spring Academy.

There are changes afoot, as well, regarding virtual education, said Legg. He thinks there’s room for vast improvements in that arena.

“I am not a fan of virtual education, straight-up virtual education. I think straight-up virtual education has a lot of bad actors. I call it ‘unregulated, Wild-Wild West education,’ if it is not done correctly.”

On the other hand, Legg said, “I’m a huge fan of blended online. It is online plus an instructor coming in and seeing people.”

The legislation that was passed begins to structure the state’s virtual education system, moving forward, he said.

Legislators also decided that the state is not yet ready for online assessments, and based on Legg’s remarks, it is not clear yet when it will be.

If the state had thrown the switch to use online assessments next year, Legg said, “I think the whole system would have imploded on itself.”

“Your infrastructure, as a district, has to be ready, in order to do the online assessments,” Legg said.

He thinks that extra dollars at the state level in the future will be invested in school technology.

Legg said his first priority would be to provide wireless broadband that schools need. Next, he would support training for teachers. “The last piece of the puzzle is the devices.

An important piece of legislation that received virtually no media attention during the session involves the creation of a district school of innovations.

“You demonstrate success one year, in this one model, you’re allowed to replicate it. It’s to maximize your flexibility, similar to charter schools,” Legg said.

Legg also noted big changes that have been made by legislators relating to early learning.

A comprehensive bill passed which creates benchmarks.

“We do need standards. It’s taxpayer dollars. We have to make sure there is quality in those programs,” Legg said.

He anticipates there will be substantially more money coming out of Washington, D.C. for early education, and if Florida wants to go after any of those dollars, it will be in a better position to do, Legg said.

By B.C. Manion

It’s a race that draws a wide range of candidates.

Over two decades, the list has included a pediatrician, an insurance rep, a real estate agent and a private eye. Sticky the Duck even waddled in one year, according to a published account.

This year’s contest pits the reigning Lutz Guv’na, Karin D’Amico, against a former Lutz Guv’na, Suzin Carr.

D’Amico is determined to hold onto her Dr. Seuss-style hat and sash, while Carr wants to snatch away the sash and the honorary title.

Both women want to win the race so they can be the one who stands before the throngs of people at Lutz’s Fourth of July Celebration to take the oath of office over a copy of Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham.

The contest, which dates back to 1991, will have its kick-off event from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on May 18 at the Old Lutz Schoolhouse, 18819 N. US 41.

If this year’s debate is like its predecessors, it will be filled with outlandish promises, said Eleanor Cecil, an event coordinator.

Such claims, Cecil said, can include things as pledging to bring the Super Bowl to Lutz or to provide a grove of orange trees for every yard.

The race is particularly special, because in a place that cherishes tradition, this year’s winner will preside as Lutz Guv’na during the community’s 100th year, Cecil said.

Carr makes no bones about it. She wants to win.

“I’m addicted to Guv instead of addicted to love,” she said, in a playful tone that tends to characterize these contests. She said she wants to win so much that she’s learning to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” in Hungarian, to help bring in cash.

D’Amico said she wants to go where no Lutz Guv’na has been before – by winning a second term. “It’s the centennial; time to make a little history,” she said.

Cecil said having a Guv’na and former Guv’na duke it out should make for great fun, but she’d love to mix it up even more.

The organizer is putting out the word that anyone who lives or works in Lutz and wants to enter the fray should attend the kick-off event. Walk-in candidates are welcome, Cecil said.

The annual contest began more than two decades ago as a way to raise money for Lutz’s annual Independence Day festivities and its community causes.

Over time, it has also become a way to build community.

Candidates usually rely on fundraisers such as chicken dinners, luncheons, car washes and golf outings to drum up campaign funds.

The events also provide a chance to highlight local businesses, and they bring groups of people together to socialize for a good cause, Cecil said.

Proceeds from previous races have been used to help provide batting helmets for the Lutz Leaguerettes, help fund a model rocketry program for civil air cadets, support scholarships for cancer survivors and help cover insurance costs for the Old Lutz Schoolhouse.

The Guv’na’s race offers a glimpse of Lutz’s spirit, Cecil said.

“We’re all about community,” Cecil said. “We want it to have that hometown, small-town feel – where everybody supports one another.”

A High Tea fundraiser

Edwina Kraemer is hosting a High Tea with sandwiches, fruit, scones, dessert and an opportunity drawing to raise funds for Karin D’Amico, the Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club candidate for Lutz Guv’na.

The cost is $20. For more information about this event, email or call her at (813) 240-9321.

Lutz gearing up to celebrate the Fourth of July

The theme for this year’s Independence Day Parade is Lutz, Celebrating 100 Years. To find out more about planning for the big event, contact these people:

5K Race sponsorship and entry: Terry Donovan, (813) 949-6659

Float information: Shirley Simmons, (813) 949-7060

Guv’na information: Eleanor Cecil, (813) 727-7549

Cake decorating contest entries: Marilyn Wannamaker (813) 949-1482

Booth rental: Helen Cantrell or Annie Fernandez at

General parade information and all other inquiries: Phyllis Hoedt at

Too many children are failing

By B.C. Manion

As Pasco County Schools grapples with budget shortfalls, it also must change the way it delivers education, Superintendent Kurt Browning said.

“We cannot get our students where they need to be academically if we don’t change the model,” Browning said at the May 7 school board meeting.

“My focus is K-3 (kindergarten through third grade). If we do not begin breaking this cycle of lack of literacy, proficiency in literacy, then all we’re doing is compounding the problem,” Browning said.

“As these students move through third grade, they get retained. If they get retained a second time, I think research will tell you there’s a high likelihood that these people will not graduate from high school,” Browning said.

His remarks came during the board’s discussion about needed cuts to balance next year’s budget.

Browning pointed to current district data to make the case for change.

“If our current system is working so well, then why are scores where they are?

Reading scores are not, by any stretch of the imagination, where they should be. We are leaving back the equivalent of an overcrowded elementary school each and every year in Pasco County.

“That is unconscionable, as far as I’m concerned,” said Browning, during a discussion about his recommendation to eliminate school media specialists, technology specialists and literacy coaches and replace them with 80 information and communication technology coaches and eight technicians.

The new ICT coaches will help teachers learn how to integrate the use of technology in their daily practices, said Amelia Van Name Larson, assistant superintendent for student achievement. The eight technicians will provide support across the district, working within regional teams.

Board chairwoman Cynthia Armstrong supported the change, but asked how the district can alleviate fears that teachers have about losing the technology help they received in the past.

The district recognizes that the transition will be difficult, Van Name Larson said. “It is going to be painful next year. It is. At the same time, next year is going to be a year of capacity building – across the board.”

The district will also be seeking grant money to establish a technology help desk, said Ray Gadd, assistant superintendent for administration and operations.

Board member Alison Crumbley said she sees the change as a shift toward teachers taking on the role of integrating technology in their subject matter.

That’s something teachers need to be able to do to adequately prepare students, Armstrong said.

Board member Steve Luikart wondered why the district couldn’t gradually transition the changes.

“We don’t have any data on this plan. There’s none out there. Why not concentrate at the K-3 level and ease the program in?” Luikart said.

Crumbley said she’d feel more comfortable with a slower transition, but the district doesn’t have the money to make that happen.

Browning said the district can’t afford to wait, academically.

“Every year, we get more and more kids left behind. Until we fully implement this plan, I don’t think we’re going to see the student gains we need to see.

“Our data on our current plan is in the tank. With all due respect to all of the hard-working folks out there, trying to move this district forward, I have data that shows that our current plan is not getting us academically where we need to be,” Browning said. “This board has got to take some bold steps.”

School board member Allen Altman agreed: “The current data implores us to do something different. We can do better, and we must do better.”

School board member Joanne Hurley said the only reason she was supporting Browning’s recommendation is because she doesn’t have a better solution to offer that would balance the district’s budget.

Despite her reluctance, Hurley joined the other board members to unanimously approve Browning’s plan.

On another issue, Browning told the board that Lacoochee Elementary in Dade City has been placed on the state’s turnaround list, and the district will be taking drastic steps to improve its performance.

“I’m committed to doing whatever it takes to get that school turned around. If it means the superintendent knocking on doors of parents telling them they need to get their kids to school in their seats, that is what this superintendent is going to do. You can’t learn if you aren’t in school,” Browning said.

New Wiregrass campus expected to enhance those impacts

By B.C. Manion

A recent study put Pasco-Hernando Community College’s economic impact in its two-county service area at more than $240 million.

And that’s even before the college’s newest campus opens – which undoubtedly will also have a positive effect on the local economy, said John Hagen, president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council, Inc.

When the new Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch opens, expected in January 2014, the area will have another drawing card to attract new development nearby, Hagen said.

“I’m really excited about that,” Hagen said. “I think it’s going to be their flagship campus. It definitely makes the area more attractive.”

The Porter campus, under construction at SR 56 and Mansfield Boulevard, is directly across from the site where Raymond James is expected to develop a large office park.

It’s also near Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, the Shops at Wiregrass and a host of other developments that are planned or are under way in the SR 54/SR 56 corridor, Interstate 75 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

“We are on the cusp of something great in this area,” said Jeff Miller, chairman of the Economic Development Committee for the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce.

Besides the construction now under way, efforts are also being made to gain approval for two bachelor’s program at the campus, at SR 56 and Mansfield Boulevard.

The college is on the path toward approvals for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and a Bachelor of Applied Science.

That’s good news, Miller said.

“They’re graduating to that next level,” Miller said. With the four-year programs, students living in Wesley Chapel will have the opportunity to attend prekindergarten through college without having to leave the community, he noted.

The economic impact study, done by a company called Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc. (EMSI), was based on its payroll and operations spending, as well as the accumulated economic impact the college’s graduates have had on the local economy.

Figures contained in the report were based on staffing levels for the 2011-12 reporting year, at which time they had 389 full-time employees and 336 part-time faculty and staff. The college spent approximately $31.7 million a year on salaries, services and supplies.

EMSI conducted the study on behalf of the 28 colleges within the Florida College System.

Since PHCC began, it has awarded more than 32,000 degrees and certificates, according to the EMSI study.

The economic impact of graduates in a 29-year period takes into consideration increased earning potential and increased output of business.

The study reports that every dollar spent on tuition today will increase a student’s future income by $6.40, which translates into a 16.7 percent return on investment of time and money for PHCC students.

Associate degree holders earn $8,200 more per year, on average, over the course of their working life, as compared to someone with a high school diploma, the report says.

For Florida taxpayers, the rate of return on their investment in PHCC is 7.7 percent, outperforming the return on nearly all private investment categories, the report says.

PHCC has campuses in Brooksville, Dade City, New Port Richey and Spring Hill.

Data used in EMSI’s report includes, but is not limited to 2011-12 academic and financial reports from the college, industry and employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and earnings and demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau.