Education

Allen Altman’s last school board meeting — which coincided with the day of the Nov. 8 General Election — marked the end of 16 years of elected service.

He said he chose to step away now because he felt “it was just time” for his departure.

Altman is a native of Pasco County, attended Pasco Elementary, Pasco Middle and Pasco High, and what is now known as Pasco-Hernando State College.

He’s been involved in Pasco County Schools in some shape or form for nearly 40 years, serving on his daughter’s school advisory committees, on the Pasco Education Foundation Board and as chair of the Penny for Pasco campaign, in 2004.

He didn’t plan to run for school board, but was approached in 2006 by Jeannie Weightman, a sitting board member.

“I still remember it like it was yesterday. She was in Kansas. She called me. She told me the night before she had been rocking her grandbabies and decided that she no longer wanted her life schedule to revolve around school board.

“She had already announced for reelection. She said, ‘Allen, I think you ought to run for my seat.’

“I was actually on a bus — a church bus with a bunch of men headed to Georgia, headed to a men’s conference. We were going across Payne’s Prairie, at Gainesville, when she called me. And, by the time we got to Tifton, Georgia, to stop for lunch, my phone was blowing up with people saying, ‘We heard that Miss Weightman isn’t going to run again and we want you to run.’”

While he had helped others run for office, Altman hadn’t considered that path for himself.

So, when he got home from the men’s conference, he talked it over with his family.

“I sat down my wife (Laura) and my two daughters (Michelle and Melissa) and we had a family meeting,” he said.

They listed the pros and cons.

Ultimately, he said, “they all encouraged me to run. The community support was just overwhelming. I finally gave in and decided I would run.

“At the time I got elected, my intention was to serve no more than two terms,” Altman said.

The Great Recession changed that.

“It was extremely difficult and tough,” he said. “Some of the dreams and visions that I had for the district — like a career and technical high school — were put on the back burner just because of economics.

“So, I decided to run again. And then those things got into the planning process, and I decided, (to run) one more time.”

Expanding options for students
The academic landscape in Pasco County has changed greatly since Altman joined the board.

He was a staunch advocate for expanded educational choices for students living in East Pasco.

When he joined the board, the district’s most rigorous courses were offered only in the central and west areas of the county.

Since then, the district initiated a Cambridge Program in East Pasco, which has spread to schools in other parts of the county. It also has added STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) magnet programs to more schools. It also has career academies at every high school.

Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation opened in August — a new magnet high school off Curley Road, in Wesley Chapel, that prepares students for current and emerging careers.

Altman credits Superintendent Kurt Browning, Deputy Superintendent Ray Gadd, the superintendent’s staff and his board colleagues for the district’s progress.

“We have been diligent to try to respond to parents’ needs and be prudent with tax dollars, at the same time,” Altman said. “The big driver is what’s best for our students and families? What the planning has revolved around is how best to provide educational opportunities, accommodate families — and be prudent with taxpayer dollars — and, that’s a balancing act.”

A new school being built on the Kirkland Ranch campus will be for students in K-8. That’s an educational model that’s finding favor with families, Altman said.

He also noted the district is doing a good job of planning ahead. When it builds a new school, for instance, it designs it to make it easy to add an additional wing, if that is needed to accommodate future growth.

That, he said, gives the district the most bang for its buck.

Making tough decisions
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, Altman said.

The Great Recession forced hundreds of layoffs. School boundary issues have been heated. A shortage of money and bus drivers forced the district to end “courtesy” busing for students in grades six through 12, who live within 2 miles of school.

And, that’s not to mention all of the changes required by COVID-19 and an increasing spread of misinformation through social media.

“Those are all extremely difficult issues,” Altman said.

He understands there are individual circumstances that can’t always be accommodated and that can pose hardships on families.

“My focus has been on the big picture for the district — making sure that we’re financially prudent, that we’re providing student choice opportunities and we’re serving families. At the end of the day, you have to make decisions based on the good of the whole,” he said.

“Do I wish I could wave a magic wand and fix their (individual) need? You know I can’t.”

Still, he empathizes with people who feel boxed-in by state or federal requirements.

He understands the frustrations of mandates and red tape.

“Those are hard to stomach. Many times, I’ve agreed with them (people who are objecting),” Altman said.

He recalls one conversation when he told a school board attorney he agreed with the opponents on an issue.

The attorney told Altman: “You can agree with them, but it’s going to cost you $800,000 or $900,000 to fight the federal government to agree with them.

“Those are frustrating times,” the school board member added.

Knowing how to help is gratifying
Some of his best moments on the board have been knowing where to turn for help, to try to resolve a specific problem.

He recalls being approached at a Wesley Chapel High graduation by parents of a student who thanked him profusely for his help in getting their son the help he needed to be able to walk across the stage to receive his diploma.

“I’ve had that happen three or four times,” said Altman, also crediting the superintendent’s team and district staff for making those things happen.

“Superintendent (Kurt) Browning and Deputy Superintendent (Ray) Gadd have put together an All-Star team. They are hardworking, energetic, dedicated, high integrity.

“And, so I don’t have the answers, but I know — after 16 years now — who to call that knows who to talk to, to get help,” Altman said.

As he steps away from public office, Altman said he is troubled by a decline in common courtesy and in the rapid spread of disinformation.

“One of the things that I hear from business owners, and from our administrators and teachers, is just the lack of civility of the entire population, and that’s sad,” he said.

He’s concerned, too, by an increasing disregard for facts.

“I am convinced that social media is a tool of the devil,” Altman said.

With social media, he said, “regardless what you think, you can search and find somebody that will provide something that you like to hear — regardless to whether there’s any truth to it at all.”

The failure to recognize verifiable facts makes it hard to resolve disputes and find a way forward, Altman said.

“It makes it difficult to build consensus when there are people who have absolutely no regard or concern for what the truth is,” Altman said.

Published November 09, 2022