The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Education

Sanders magnet deadline is approaching

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The Jan. 15 deadline is approaching for applications to Sanders Memorial STEAM Magnet School – Pasco County’s first magnet school.

So far, the district has received around 1,400 applications for the school, at 5126 School Road in Land O’ Lakes. It is scheduled to open in August.

Considerable progress is being made on the construction of Sanders Memorial STEAM Magnet School – Pasco County’s first magnet school. Applications for the school, which are being accepted from across the district, must be filed by Jan. 15. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Considerable progress is being made on the construction of Sanders Memorial STEAM Magnet School – Pasco County’s first magnet school. Applications for the school, which are being accepted from across the district, must be filed by Jan. 15.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

The school — which will emphasize science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics — is being built to accommodate 762 kindergarten through fifth-grade students.

As a magnet school, there are no attendance boundaries. Any elementary school student throughout the school district is eligible to apply.

A weighted lottery system will be used to select students. Pupils from nearby Connerton and Oakstead elementary schools, as well as children of Sander’s staff members, will have a higher priority for admission because Connerton and Oakstead are overcrowded.

Siblings of students accepted to Sanders also will be given extra weight in the lottery.

Once accepted, a student will be able to attend Sanders through fifth grade.

The district expects to notify parents of their child’s acceptance by email before Feb. 6.

Although the standards for the students will be the same, the learning approaches will be different.

The design of the school also will foster a greater degree of collaboration between students, and between students and teachers. A wetlands area with a boardwalk also will give students a chance to get up close with nature, creating opportunities for outdoor learning.

Sanders will use materials that are similar to those in traditional schools, except there will be a greater emphasis on technology, collaborative learning and independent thinking.

Sanders students will have some type of device allowing them to use technology to help solve problems and enhance learning. They also will have the arts infused into a curriculum that aims to create independent thinkers and learners.

Sanders’ design aims to encourage collaborative learning. When construction is completed, the school will have individual classrooms flanking both sides of a large space where students can work together on projects, where groups of children can work with teachers, and where larger presentations can be given.

Classrooms will have wireless technology. They also are set up to accommodate experiments. Space also will be provided within the school to allow students to store projects they are working on.

The school district also plans to send buses through neighborhoods within a five-mile radius to pick up students for Sanders. Those living farther away will use transportation hubs at Veterans, Moonlake and Trinity elementary schools, where they can catch a bus in the morning to Sanders and return there after school.

In a news conference that was held when the application period opened, Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning said the district is committed to the success of its first magnet school.

He also made it clear that the district recognizes its need to compete for students and will be adding more educational choices in the future.

For more information, and a virtual tour, visit PascoSchools.org, and click on the Sanders banner at the top.

Published January 7, 2015

Some oppose planned Quail Hollow school boundaries

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When Pasco County School Board members consider proposed boundary changes for Quail Hollow Elementary School in January, they’ll likely hear from parents who oppose the idea of shifting their children from Wesley Chapel Elementary to the reconstructed school.

Buses will line up once again next school year when the massively remodeled Quail Hollow Elementary School reopens its doors. It was closed to create more traditional classroom spaces to replace its former ‘open’ design. (File Photo)
Buses will line up once again next school year when the massively remodeled Quail Hollow Elementary School reopens its doors. It was closed to create more traditional classroom spaces to replace its former ‘open’ design. (File Photo)

About three-dozen parents and students turned out for a Dec. 8 community meeting to discuss Quail Hollow’s proposed boundary, and some parents made it clear they don’t want their children transferred out of Wesley Chapel Elementary, Pasco County Schools planning director Chris Williams said.

Quail Hollow, at 7050 Quail Hollow Blvd., in Wesley Chapel, has been closed for a massive reconstruction project, and will reopen next fall. When it does, the school will have classroom doors and walls, unlike its previous “open design,” and will have updated technology.

A committee has been working on recommending proposed boundaries, which the school board is expected to consider at its 6 p.m. hearing on Jan. 20. A second and final vote is expected at the board’s Feb. 3 meeting.

The school will have more capacity than it did before. The proposed boundaries call for shifting some students there from Wesley Chapel and Veterans elementary schools. The Veterans students would come from an area that includes the Pasco Woods apartments, Williams said.

The area that would shift Wesley Chapel to Quail Hollow includes the neighborhoods of Wesley Pointe, Villages at Wesley Chapel, Citrus Trace and Saddleridge Estates.

There are 62 students living in the area that would be reassigned from Veterans to Quail Hollow, Williams said. There are 100 students living in the area that would be reassigned from Wesley Chapel to Quail Hollow.

Veterans has a capacity of 762 students, but currently has 828, including pre-kindergarten. So, Williams said, Veterans already is over capacity and could use relief.

Wesley Chapel Elementary has a capacity of 613 students, but will have far fewer students when children who attended Quail Hollow return to their school. However, Quail Hollow has space to accommodate a greater number of children, so the committee recommended reassigning students from Wesley Chapel to Quail Hollow to provide room for growth that is expected to result from the development of Epperson Ranch South near Overpass Road.

Some parents at the community meeting voiced concerns about shifting the communities north of State Road 54 and west of Interstate 75, Williams said. Quail Hollow is a little more than a mile farther away, but parents are concerned about the traffic congestion they could encounter along State Road 54 through Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Another concern raised at the meeting relates to the difference in Wesley Chapel and Quail Hollow’s performance. Wesley Chapel is an A school, based on the state’s criteria. Quail Hollow was a C school.

Beyond boundary changes, the district still needs to name a new principal for Quail Hollow. Superintendent Kurt Browning had intended to recommend Lane Morris, assistant principal at Gulfside Elementary School, as Quail Hollow’s principal. But Browning put that recommendation on hold after Gulfside principal Chris Clayton was placed on administrative leave pending investigation of reports he violated school district policy.

District officials do not anticipate Clayton returning to Gulfside, said Pasco County Schools spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said.

The Pasco County School Board is scheduled to take an initial vote on proposed boundary changes affecting Quail Hollow, Wesley Chapel and Veterans elementary schools at the board’s 6 p.m. meeting on Jan. 20.

The final vote is expected at the board’s 9:30 a.m. meeting on Feb. 3.

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Chalk Talk 12-24-14

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(Courtesy of Watergrass Elementary School)
(Courtesy of Watergrass Elementary School)

Interactive teach-in at Watergrass
Watergrass Elementary School in Wesley Chapel hosted a variety of presenters at the Great American Teach-In, including Linda and Ed Brunner of Tranquil Pawz Therapy Dogs. Nathanial Wright interacts with one of the therapy dogs.

Application period starts for magnet school
The application period for Pasco County Schools’ first magnet school, Sanders Memorial Elementary STEAM Magnet School, runs through Jan. 15.

The school is located at 5126 School Road in Land O’ Lakes and is scheduled to open August 2015.

The focus of the school is on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

For information, and a virtual tour, visit PascoSchools.org, and click on the Sanders banner at the top.

LOL students excel in WordWright
A team of students representing Land O’ Lakes High School excelled in a recent WordWright Challenge.

The school’s ninth graders placed eighth in the nation; the 10th graders placed second; and the 12th graders placed sixth.

The WordWright Challenge is a national competition in which more than 50,000 students across the nation analyze literature with a focus on perceptive interpretation, sensitivity to language, and an appreciation of style.

Students who excelled in the challenge were Tyler Visuvasam, Stutee Achaya, Joshua Brett, Josie Hidalgo, Roshan Kumaraswamy, Nana Kusi, Alison MacDonald, Sarah Bush, Michael Gendreau, Ben Martin, Shivani Saini, Albert Xing, Grace Alexander, Carter Bright, Isabella Brown, Nicholas Maci, Elizabeth May, Ashley Rocks, Jessica Twitmyer, Alexander Lewis, Tyler Ohnmacht, Hernando Torrealba, John Calahatian, Brandon Clark, Alexander Duty, Justin Mashhoff and Nicholas Suhlman.

David Berger, Margaret Higgins, Bryan Babij and Ramona Quave supervised the teams.

For information about the challenge, visit WordWrightChallenge.com.

Scholarship endowment helps veteran students
The Pasco-Hernando State College Foundation recently received a $1,000 scholarship endowment gift from The Florida Suncoast Chapter of Military Officers Association of America.

The scholarship is awarded to eligible PHSC military veteran students and their families.

To date, the organization has contributed $14,000 to its scholarship endowment.

For information on the PHSC Foundation, call (727) 816-3410, or visit PHSC.edu/foundation.

Saint Leo a top school in MAE
Military Advanced Education has awarded Saint Leo University the designation of a top school in its 2015 MAE Guide to Colleges and Universities, measuring the best practices in military and veteran education.

The guide contains the results of a questionnaire of the military-supportive policies enacted at more than 600 institutions including private, public, for-profit, nonprofit, four-year and two-year colleges.

It also gives students information about institutions that go out of their way to give back to our men and women in uniform.

The guide will be released in the December issue of MAE, and will be available online at MAE-KMI.com.

Library foundation launches website
The Pasco Library Foundation recently launched its new website, making it easier to learn about the library foundation and support the Pasco County Library System.

Donations to the library foundation make great gifts for anyone who loves books and the library.

Donations can be dedicated to a certain type of purchase or a particular program.

Personalized bookplates also can be inserted into a book of your choice.

The library foundation will also send a holiday card to inform the gift recipient that a donation was made in their name.

For information, visit PascoLibraryFoundation.org.

 

 

Contract proposal includes pay raises, more planning time

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Negotiators for Pasco County Schools and the United School Employees of Pasco have hammered out a deal that includes pay raises and increased instructional planning time. But it also calls for the end of smoking on all district properties and for the end of a district early retirement program.

Teachers and school-related employees, on average, would receive a 3 percent increase under the proposal, union president Kenny Blankenship said.

Kenny Blankenship (File Photo)
Kenny Blankenship says the pay raises in the proposed contract between Pasco County Schools and the United School Employees of Pasco are ‘among the best in the state.’ (File photo)

Kenny Blankenship says the pay raises in the proposed contract between Pasco County Schools and the United School Employees of Pasco are ‘among the best in the state.’

Kenny Blankenship says the pay raises in the proposed contract between Pasco County Schools and the United School Employees of Pasco are ‘among the best in the state.’

Kenny Blankenship says the pay raises in the proposed contract between Pasco County Schools and the United School Employees of Pasco are ‘among the best in the state.’

Kenny Blankenship says the pay raises in the proposed contract between Pasco County Schools and the United School Employees of Pasco are ‘among the best in the state.’

“That’s one of the best in the state,” he said.

The proposed contract also calls for increasing teachers’ instructional planning time from the current 100 minutes a day, to 150. The increased planning time probably is the most significant item in the agreement, Blankenship said.

“Our teachers really need it with all of the changes that we’ve been going through,” Blankenship said.

The proposed contract also calls for the end of smoking on district properties, effective July 1, 2016. It’s a provision Superintendent Kurt Browning says is important to the school district.

“We want a healthier work force, and we felt very strongly that that was a way to at least move in that direction,” Browning said.

There’s time between now and when the policy takes effect that will give employees a chance to participate in smoking cessation programs, the superintendent added. Beyond employee health, the district thought that allowing smoking at its sites sent a mixed message.

The ban on smoking is in keeping with similar bans in public places across the nation, Blankenship said.

“That’s probably an idea that’s come to its time,” he said.

Another portion of the proposed contract calls for eliminating new entrants to the district’s early retirement program, effective June 30, 2018.

By having that program phased out, Browning said, the district can use the $1.6 million typically spent there for other purposes.

The people currently participating in the program will not be affected,” Blankenship said. Those who qualify and opt to take advantage of the program still have some time to do so.

Both sides have agreed to create a compensation task force that will talk about proposed changes to how teachers are paid. The options being considered are teachers receiving 20 paychecks during the 10-month teacher work year, with five checks paid on the last teacher work day, and a last check two weeks later; or teachers receiving 26 equal paychecks, paid out every two weeks year round.

Another plus of the proposed contract, Blankenship said, is that there’s still a free health care plan option available for employees.

All together the district is providing almost $12 million of new funding toward employee compensation and benefits, according to a district news release.

A general settlement explanation meeting open to all bargaining unit members is scheduled for Jan. 13, where union building representatives will vote whether to recommend the settlement to the full bargaining unit. A ratification vote has been scheduled for Jan. 14.

Provided that the settlement is ratified, the Pasco County School Board is schedule to vote on Jan. 20.

Any applicable retroactive pay should be reflected in paychecks by the end of February.

Published December 17, 2014

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Chalk Talk 12-10-14

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(Courtesy of Saint Leo University)
(Courtesy of Saint Leo University)

Saint Leo honored for grounds maintenance
The Professional Grounds Management Society recently recognized Saint Leo University with an Honor Award in the Society’s 2014 Green Star Awards competition.

The award was given in the University and College Grounds category for exceptional grounds maintenance.

The building that houses the Donald R. Tapia School of Business at University Campus was built in 2011 and is LEED Gold certified.

The building’s landscaping is maintained with native plants and roof water irrigation, the beds were designed in-house with plants from an on-site nursery, and the multi-colored rock border keeps the mulch in place and off the pathways.

The Green Star Awards program brings national recognition to grounds maintained with a high degree of excellence, complimenting other national landscape award programs that recognize outstanding landscaping design and construction.

Peace poster contest winners
The Lutz Land O’ Lakes Lions Club has announced the winners of this year’s Peace Poster Contest. The club worked with the art department students at Academy at the Lakes.

The top winners were Dion Loutas, first place; Nataley Riggs, second place; and Victoria Yanez, third place.

Schools interested in participating in next year’s contest can call Jeanine Talbot at (813) 355-3452.

Still time to enroll in spring classes
Students who are currently enrolled or returning to Pasco-Hernando State College are encouraged to register for spring classes as soon as possible. Classes begin Jan. 12.

New students interested in spring classes should visit PHSC.edu/wise for admissions information.

The application fee is $25, with an additional $20 fee assessed during the late registration period, Jan. 12 to Jan. 16.

All PHSC locations will be closed from Dec. 18 to Jan. 4 for winter break.

The last day for students to register in person at the Brooksville, Dade City, New Port Richey, Spring Hill or Wesley Chapel campus for spring classes is Dec. 17.

Current students can register online during the winter break.

Application period starts for magnet school
The application period for Pasco County Schools’ first magnet school, Sanders Memorial Elementary STEAM Magnet School, runs through Jan. 15.

The school is located at 5126 School Road in Land O’ Lakes and is scheduled to open August 2015.

For information, and a virtual tour, visit PascoSchools.org, and click on the Sanders banner at the top.

Scholarship endowment helps veteran students
The Pasco-Hernando State College Foundation recently received a $1,000 scholarship endowment gift from The Florida Suncoast Chapter of Military Officers Association of America.

The scholarship is awarded to eligible PHSC military veteran students and their families.

To date, the organization has contributed $14,000 to its scholarship endowment.

For information on the PHSC Foundation, call (727) 816-3410, or visit PHSC.edu/foundation.

Applications pouring in for Pasco’s first magnet school

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Pasco County Schools received more than 860 applications within the first four days of finding students for its first magnet facility, Sanders Memorial STEAM Magnet School.

Applications for Sanders — a school that focuses on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — will be accepted through Jan. 15.

Pasco County Schools superintendent Kurt Browning says that Sanders Memorial STEAM Magnet School, Pasco’s first magnet school, is evidence the school district knows it needs to expand its educational choices. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Pasco County Schools superintendent Kurt Browning says that Sanders Memorial STEAM Magnet School, Pasco’s first magnet school, is evidence the school district knows it needs to expand its educational choices. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

Lindsey Davis submitted the first application at 12:01 a.m., on Dec. 1, in hopes of securing a space for her 7-year-old son, Grant, to attend the school at 5126 School Road in Land O’ Lakes.

Davis and her husband, Quentin, were at a news conference later that day where Superintendent Kurt Browning talked about the need for the school district to expand its educational options.

“As a district, we know that we must compete for the students we serve,” Browning said.

Davis believes that Sanders would be a good fit for her son.

“This is more his niche,” she said. “He loves science. He loves math. He loves basically everything this school is going to offer.

“I’m crossing my fingers that he gets picked.”

The school is set to open in August for the 2015-16 school year. It will serve 762 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, including a mix of children from throughout Pasco County reflecting the diverse nature of Pasco’s public schools.

The school district plans to provide bus transportation within a five-mile radius of the school. For those living farther away, the district will establish transportation hubs at Veterans, Moonlake and Trinity elementary schools where the kids can board a bus to ride to Sanders in the morning and will return to their hub after school.

Students will be selected through a weighted lottery system, with pupils from nearby Connerton and Oakstead elementary schools as well as children of Sander’s staff members given additional weight. Connerton and Oakstead are both operating with enrollments well beyond capacity.

Siblings of students accepted to Sanders also will be given extra weight in the lottery.

Once a student has been accepted, he or she student will be able to attend the school through fifth grade.

Although the standards for the students will be the same, the learning approaches will be different.

The design of the school also will foster a greater degree of collaboration between students, and between students and teachers. A wetlands area with a boardwalk also will give students a chance to get up close with nature, creating opportunities for outdoor learning.

Sanders will have materials that are similar to those in traditional schools, but there will be differences. For one thing, each student will have some type of device allowing them to use technology to help solve problems and enhance learning. They also will have the arts infused into a curriculum that aims to create independent thinkers and learners.

Sanders’ design aims to encourage collaborative learning. When construction is completed, the school will have individual classrooms that are flanked on both sides of a large space where students can work together on projects, where groups of children can work with teachers, and where larger presentations can be given.

Classrooms will have wireless technology. They also are set up to accommodate experiments. Space also will be provided within the school to allow students to store projects they are working on.

Jason Petry has been named the school’s principal, effective Jan. 6, and he’s excited about leading the district’s first magnet school. He said Sanders will emphasize collaboration, critical thinking and communication.

It will encourage children to “pose and answer questions for themselves,” he said.

Teachers and staff should be hired by early summer.

The construction is taking place on a site that was previously occupied by Sanders Memorial Elementary School. Four new buildings are being added, and three old buildings are being reconstructed at the site.

When it opens, Sanders will have a wall showcasing its history, which dates back to 1948. The display will include plaques from the original building, as well as historic photographs.

Correction
Sanders Memorial Elementary School opened in 1948. The Dec. 10 issue of The Laker/Lutz News reported an incorrect year.

Published December 10, 2014

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Charter school for 1,000 students proposed for Lutz

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A proposed charter school for up to 1,020 elementary school children in Lutz is drawing opposition from the Lutz Citizens Coalition and area residents.

Charter Schools Inc. of Boca Raton has filed a request with Hillsborough County for a special use permit to allow a school on 8.4 acres of agricultural land at the southwest quadrant of Lutz Lake Fern Road and Sunlake Boulevard.

Charter Schools Inc. of Boca Raton has filed a request with Hillsborough County to use an 8.4-acre parcel at the southwest quadrant of Lutz Lake Fern Road and Sunlake Boulevard for an elementary charter school that would accommodate up to 1,020 students. Opposition to that plan is mounting, said Michael White of the Lutz Citizens Coalition. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Charter Schools Inc. of Boca Raton has filed a request with Hillsborough County to use an 8.4-acre parcel at the southwest quadrant of Lutz Lake Fern Road and Sunlake Boulevard for an elementary charter school that would accommodate up to 1,020 students. Opposition to that plan is mounting, said Michael White of the Lutz Citizens Coalition. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

A public hearing on the request has been delayed from Dec. 15 to Jan. 20.

Plans show a two-phase project. The first phase includes a two-story building with 33 classrooms for 650 students. The second phase calls for a two-story building, with 20 classrooms for 370 children. The school would serve kindergarten through eighth grade.

The plans also show a storm water pond, a playground, and areas for parking for both vehicles and bicycles. Plans also call for basketball courts.

The application notes that any spillage of light from recreational areas will be kept to a minimum.

Public water and sewer lines are located within the Sunlake Boulevard right of way, according to the application.

Mike White, president and founder of the Lutz Citizens Coalition, said opposition to the proposal is mounting.

“It’s an inappropriate location,” White said. “It’s cramming 10 pounds into a five-pound bag.”

The coalition is a volunteer organization that works with neighborhood and community groups on zoning, environmental and other issues. It played a leading role in fighting Learning Gate’s proposed use of a site near U.S. 41 and Sunset Lane for a middle and high school.

Much like the site at Sunset, the proposed site at Sunlake and Lutz Lake Fern is not a good choice for a school, White said. Both roads are two lanes, which are not equipped to handle the kind of traffic that the project would produce.

Beyond traffic, there are concerns about flooding and the other impacts that a school would have on nearby residential development, White said.

“There’s going to be a huge fight on this,” he said.

Despite their opposition to the Learning Gate proposal and to the proposed location of the charter elementary school, the coalition is not against schools in general, White said. If the applicant chose an appropriate spot for a school, they would wholeheartedly support it.

Representatives for the applicant did not respond to a request to comment as of press time.

Published December 10, 2014

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Rushe Middle goes extra mile to encourage reading

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Students from Rushe Middle School traipsed through Barnes & Noble at The Shops at Wiregrass, on a scavenger hunt to solve a riddle.

They went from place to place picking up new clues in a search that finally led them to the discovery of the selection for the book the We Be Book’n club will read over the next few months.

Sgt. Robert Loring, a veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, unveils the book that the We Be Book’n book club is reading at Rushe Middle School. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Sgt. Robert Loring, a veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, unveils the book that the We Be Book’n book club is reading at Rushe Middle School. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

The big unveil took place on Nov. 11, and the school-wide book club will read the young adult adaptation of “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand. It tells the story of Olympian Louis Zamperini’s journey from airman to castaway to captive.

Students, accompanied by their parents, dropped by a table to get pointers on how the scavenger hunt worked, and picked up their first clue. As they solved one clue in one part of the bookstore, they received another clue that led them to a different part of the bookstore.

They concluded their search by meeting former Sgt. Robert Loring, a veteran who was a qualified parachute jumpmaster in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

Rushe faculty members Dawn Gilliland and Kelli Rapaport came up with the idea of creating a school-wide book club, according to school principal David Salerno. The principal was quickly onboard with the idea, and Rushe’s teachers, staff and parents have been great supporters, Gilliland said.

Gilliland — an information and communication technology literacy coach at Rushe — and Rapport, an intensive reading teacher, said the book club aims to motivate kids to read. So far, more than 100 students have joined the voluntary club.

“It’s just for fun,” Rapaport said. “We just want to get kids excited about literacy.”

Both women view themselves as avid readers and want to pass along their love of the written word to Rushe’s students. They selected an informational text because they want to help students develop the ability to read for information. They also wanted students to see that these kinds of books can be fascinating.

“We see kids who just aren’t reading, especially informational texts,” Gilliland said. “They don’t have that passion.”

Hillenbrand’s book recounts a story about perseverance, Salerno said. It’s a character trait he hopes students will develop.

The message Salerno hopes students will get from the book is this: “No matter what barriers you have, you can overcome them.” Salerno thinks the book is a good choice because it introduces students to a genre they don’t normally read.

The big reveal at Barnes & Noble capped weeks of buildup. Rushe staff members helped create a sense of excitement through dramatizations during which they pretended to beg for the book title’s name, offered bribes for the name, and even broke down crying.

Yet, Gilliland and Rapaport refused to give out the title.

At one point, they wrapped copies of the book in brown paper and marked them with the words “confidential” and “top secret,” and placed them at various places around the school. Teachers also talked up the big reveal.

Rapaport and Gilliland worked with the managers at Barnes & Noble to plan the event. Gilliland’s husband Jeff joined the teachers to developer the clues.

“Every clue has to go with what’s in the book,” Rapaport said. “It’s really previewing the content for them ahead of time.”

Jennifer Kosowski, whose daughter Brooke is a seventh-grader at Rushe, appreciates the efforts the school is making to encourage reading.

“It’s fun,” she said. “It gets them in here and gets them interested in reading.”

Brooke said she had fun figuring out the clues, noting some of them weren’t very easy.

The Barnes & Noble event is just one of many activities the school has planned for the book club. Over the next few months, as they read the book, a number of special events will take place that center on the book’s themes.

For instance, the school will have a mock Olympics because the book’s main character was an Olympian. The final event will be a lock-in at the school’s David Estabrook Collaboration Center, where students and staff members will spend the night playing games, watching movies, and having a chance to win prizes.

Published December 3, 2014

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Weightman students hope to stamp out tobacco use

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The students come streaming into the media center at Weightman Middle School before school started, and went straight to work making posters.

They were creating messages for the middle school’s Red Ribbon Week, an effort to discourage drug use.

Fourth-grader Siena Bracciale enjoys helping Weightman’s Students Working Against Tobacco club on its projects. She is the daughter of Weightman principal Brandon Bracciale. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Fourth-grader Siena Bracciale enjoys helping Weightman’s Students Working Against Tobacco club on its projects. She is the daughter of Weightman principal Brandon Bracciale. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

Some kids arrived at the library at 8 a.m. sharp, others drifted in over the next 20 minutes or so. Whether they arrived early or late, though, it was clear they wanted to be there.

The students belong to a school club called Students Working Against Tobacco, or SWAT for short. Their primary goal is to discourage tobacco use, but they’ve also branched into other areas, said Cpl. Kevin Brantley, the school resource officer at the Wesley Chapel middle school.

“We meet in here every Wednesday,” said Brantley, who launched this chapter of the club three years ago when he was stationed at Weightman.

The club gets bigger each year. It started with a dozen kids, then doubled in size.

Now, it has up to 50 members, with about 30 kids turning out any given week.

Besides spreading the word on the dangers of smoking and other forms of tobacco use, Brantley said the kids also pitch in on community cleanups and other volunteer efforts.

On Oct. 29, they created posters with a couple of different themes. One set of posters proclaimed, “Reddy to say no to drugs.”

“We’re playing on the word ‘red,’” Brantley explained, in honor of the school’s Red Ribbon Week.

The other posters said, “These paws don’t touch drugs.”

To help raise awareness of dangers posed by tobacco use, the club had an event last year where 88 people lined up, then fell, as if to their death. The dramatization signified the 88 people who die each day in Florida from medical conditions stemming from tobacco use.

The club plans to stage a similar event this year, Brantley said. The school resource officer likens these kinds of dramatizations to the Truth commercials from the American Legacy Foundation that appear on television to give people a reality check about the dangers of tobacco use.

Club member Jasmine Thoey said she belongs to SWAT because she wants to be a part of positive change.

“I don’t want other people to get sick,” she said.

She thinks the club appeals to other kids because it helps them feel that they can make a difference.

“We can do it,” Thoey said. “We can change the world.”

Beyond participating at school, Thoey and members of other SWAT clubs also make public appearances, speaking against the use of tobacco. She makes appearances before state lawmakers, city councils and other groups in the effort to stamp out tobacco use.

A group of SWAT students made an appearance earlier this year before the Pasco County school board asking for smoking to be outlawed on school campuses. Kenny Blankenship, president of United School Employees of Pasco, said the current contract allows schools to conduct surveys to see if they want to become tobacco-free. Under that contract, however, if even just one school employee wants to retain smoking on campus, the right to do so is protected.

But those who would ban tobacco use on school district grounds could see a major shift, if language in contract negotiations gains approval. USEP has agreed to the proposed elimination of tobacco use on district property effective July 1, 2016.

While contract negotiations continue at the district level, fourth-grader Siena Bracciale enjoys helping Weightman’s SWAT team on its projects. The daughter of principal Brandon Bracciale, she recently was at Weightman working on a poster.

Bracciale wants to discourage people from smoking or using drugs.

Besides spreading a message against tobacco and drugs, the club also gives kids a chance to meet other kids and to make friends, Brantley said. The Weightman club is part of a statewide youth organization that works to achieve a tobacco-free future.

Pasco County’s clubs have more than 250 active students. Besides Weightman, schools on the eastern and central portions of the county with SWAT clubs include Long Middle School, Pasco High School and Rushe Middle School.

Published December 3, 2014

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Community meeting set to discuss Quail Hollow boundaries

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A committee working on proposed boundaries for Quail Hollow Elementary School has recommended changes that also would affect the boundaries of Veterans and Wesley Chapel elementary schools.

Quail Hollow is set to reopen next fall following a massive overhaul that included adding walls and doors to its formerly “open” school design.

Children streamed toward Quail Hollow on the school’s last day in June 2013. The elementary school was closed for a massive remodeling which included added doors and walls to create traditional classroom spaces. (File photo)
Children streamed toward Quail Hollow on the school’s last day in June 2013. The elementary school was closed for a massive remodeling which included added doors and walls to create traditional classroom spaces. (File photo)

Besides having a more traditional setting for learning, the school will accommodate more students and feature the same technology found in other Pasco County schools.

The students who attended Quail Hollow before it closed will be assigned to the school, said district planning director Chris Williams. After that will depend on what’s decided on the new boundaries for Veterans and Wesley Chapel schools, slated to be discussed at a community meeting Dec. 8 at 6 p.m., in the Wesley Chapel Elementary cafeteria.

The Pasco County School Board is expected to consider boundaries for Quail Hollow at its Jan. 20 meeting, and make a final decision Feb. 3.

The area that would shift from Veterans to Quail Hollow is bordered by Old Pasco Road on the west, Interstate 75 on the east, and Wesley Chapel Boulevard on the south, Williams said. For Wesley Chapel Elementary, the affected area is bordered by I-75 on the east, State Road 54 on the south, and Boyette Road on the west.

There are 62 students living in the area that would be reassigned from Veterans to Quail Hollow, Williams said, and another 100 living in the area that would be reassigned from Wesley Chapel.

Veterans Elementary already is over-capacity with 828 students in a school that is supposed to hold 762. Wesley Chapel has a capacity of 613 students, Williams said, and will have far fewer when children who attended Quail Hollow return to their school.

However, Quail Hollow has space to accommodate a greater number of children, he said, so the decision was made to reassign students from Wesley Chapel to Quail Hollow to provide room for growth that is expected from the development of Epperson Ranch South.

When school begins next year, Quail Hollow is expected to have an enrollment ranging from 500 to 540, depending on school choice, Williams said. After its improvements are completed, Quail Hollow’s capacity is expected to be 682. That compares to a previous capacity of 554.

In addition to changes at Quail Hollow, the school district continues to search for property along U.S. 41 as well as the State Road 54 corridor, Williams said. Officials are hoping to sign a contract on some land in the northern part of Land O’ Lakes for a new elementary school site which would accommodate children living in the housing developments on the west side of U.S. 41.

Typically, the district seeks sites of approximately 22 acres for its new elementary schools, Williams said. But officials also are looking for high school sites, since Land O’ Lakes High School is full, and Sunlake High School is almost full, despite future development expected in larger communities like Connerton and Bexley Ranch.

The district wants one or two high school sites between 60 acres and 70 acres each.

“We’re working with a couple of other developers to secure at least one of those,” Williams said. He also keeps his eye out and occasionally talks to real estate agents on possible properties.

When Land O’ Lakes and Zephyrhills high schools are remodeled or reconstructed, the district will likely increase their capacity, Williams said. Work on those two schools likely won’t begin for another five to 10 years, however, and when it does, it’s likely to be complicated.

Whether they build from scratch or remodel the schools, the district will need to figure out how to house the students during construction.

“We’re definitely going to have to get creative,” Williams said. “We’re hoping to meet with those principals in the near future and start talking about a timeline.”

Another challenge, Williams said, is that while the schools have current needs, the question becomes how much money the district should spend if it is just going to tear out the improvements within a few years anyway.

WHAT: Quail Hollow Elementary School boundaries parent meeting
WHY: To discuss potential changes to boundaries of Wesley Chapel and Veterans elementary schools
WHEN: Dec. 8 at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Wesley Chapel Elementary School cafeteria, 30243 Wells Road

The Pasco County School Board is scheduled to vote for the first time on proposed boundary changes affecting Quail Hollow, Wesley Chapel and Veterans elementary schools Jan. 20 at 6 p.m. A final vote is scheduled for Feb. 3 at 9:30 a.m.

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