The Pasco County School Board is in for a long meeting on Dec. 20, if parent meetings on proposed school boundaries are any indication.
Board members are scheduled to hold public meetings on school boundaries proposed for Bexley Elementary School, Cypress Creek Middle/High School and on rezoning changes affecting schools in West Pasco County.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photos)
The board meets at the school district’s headquarters at 7227 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes.
Recommended boundaries for Bexley Elementary, which is being built in a new subdivision off State Road 54 in Land O’ Lakes, appear to be the least controversial.
The proposed boundaries for Bexley would reduce crowding at both Odessa and Oakstead elementary schools, and would provide additional students for Lake Myrtle Elementary.
Controversy ratchets up when it comes to proposed boundaries for Cypress Creek Midde/High School, now under construction on Old Pasco Road.
The middle/high school initially will serve sixth- through 11th-grade students, and will add a senior class during its second year of operations.
Its proposed boundaries for Cypress Creek Middle/High affect Rushe, John Long and Weightman middle schools, and Sunlake, Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass high schools.
The atmosphere was like a pep rally during a parent meeting at Wesley Chapel High School on Nov. 29, to discuss the boundaries initially recommended by a boundary committee.
At that time, the committee was recommending that Meadow Pointe students be moved from John Long and Wiregrass Ranch, while Seven Oaks students be allowed to stay at those schools.
Now, the committee is recommending a different option.
“Instead of sending the Meadow Pointe folks, they’re sending the Seven Oaks folks to Wesley Chapel (High)/Weightman (Middle),” said Chris Williams, director of planning for Pasco County Schools.
The committee changed its original recommendation from Option 12, to Option 20. For more details, visit Pasco.k12.fl.us/planning/rezoning.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what the reaction is now,” Williams said.
In addition to changes affecting Seven Oaks and Meadow Pointe, the committee has recommended changes affecting students in the Rushe and Sunlake attendance areas.
The students moving from Rushe would go ahead and move next school year, Williams said.
But the Sunlake students, in the affected area, would be phased into the new high school, Williams said. Only the freshmen in the affected area would attend Cypress Middle/High School next year. The sophomores, juniors and seniors in that area would be grandfathered in at Sunlake.
As the ninth-graders from the Sunlake area become sophomores, a new crop of freshmen from the affected area would move to Cypress Middle/High. Eventually, the phase-in will be completed.
That approach is considered necessary, Williams said.
“Because, essentially, if we move everything we say we’re going to move into Cypress Creek, Cypress Creek is going to be over capacity, right away,” he said.
Steps are needed to provide more capacity at Rushe and Sunlake because the schools are situated in high-growth areas, and they don’t have much space available to add portable classrooms, Williams said.
Phasing in Sunlake will create transportation problems, but the district also faces that issue when it allows seniors to be grandfathered to finish out high school, Williams said.
“It’s problematic, but it’s short term,” Williams said.
Williams said he cannot recall an instance when the district has grandfathered three grades at a school, but he said there is enough space at Sunlake to do that for now.
That’s different than the situation at Wiregrass Ranch High School, which has so many students it has been operating on a 10-period day to create additional capacity, the planning director said.
If the district just moved the ninth-graders from Wiregrass, it would have to remain on a 10-period day, he said.
Despite this year’s recommendations, Williams said it’s important for Meadow Pointe residents to understand there may be a day when not all of the community’s students will be able to go to John Long and Wiregrass Ranch.
“That (school zone) is going to have to continue to get smaller as more houses are built in Wiregrass,” Williams said.
Regardless of where their children are assigned, parents raised a number of issues during parent meetings.
They wanted to know the potential impacts to academic offerings and athletic opportunities. They voiced concerns about traffic hazards and hardships on children whose learning will be disrupted. Some parents also noted their children will be attending more than one high school because their siblings are seniors and are grandfathered in at their current high school.
School boundary hearing
When: Dec. 20, 6 p.m.
Where: Pasco County School boardroom, at 7227 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.
Why: New boundaries are needed to relieve overcrowding at some schools and to provide enrollment for others.
To be sure to have the most updated information, call (813) 794-2000, or visit Pasco.k12.fl.us/planning/rezoning/.
Boundary committees making recommendations on where the lines should be drawn for schools are asked to consider these factors:
- Socioeconomic balance
- School feeder patterns
- Future growth and capacity
- Transportation issues
- Subdivision integrity
- Planning integrity to provide stability
Boundaries for Cypress Creek Midde/High School
The new school, which will open initially for students in sixth through 11th grades, will affect the boundaries for Rushe, John Long and Weightman middle schools, and for Sunlake, Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch high schools.
Boundaries for Bexley Elementary School
Proposed boundaries for Bexley Elementary School would provide relief for Oakstead and Odessa elementary schools, and will provide additional students for Lake Myrtle Elementary.
Published December 14, 2016
