The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Zephyrhills/East Pasco News

Woodland Elementary School gets new look

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Students and staff arriving this week at Woodland Elementary School for a new academic year found a campus that has undergone a substantial renovation.

The $12 million project included $9 million in construction costs and $3 million for other expenses, including furniture, architectural fees, materials testing, telecommunications, district staff and other costs, according to Mike Gude, director of construction services and code compliance for Pasco County Schools.

An exterior view of a new building at Woodland Elementary School in Zephyrhills.
(Courtesy of Pasco County Schools)

The renovation of the school at 38203 Henry Drive included the addition of more than 100 paved parking spaces, a new and expanded administration suite, 12 additional classrooms, a new art room, two new music rooms, an expanded student drop-off loop for parents, and a renovated kitchen and cafeteria, with a multipurpose room and stage, according to a school district news release.

Woodland Principal Shauntte Butcher recently gave a look at the upgraded facility to school district officials, including School Board member Allan Altman and schools Superintendent Kurt Browning. That tour was recorded on a video that’s available on YouTube.

During that video, Altman recalled visiting Woodland in 2007 to meet with the former principal Kim Poe, who showed him the school’s need for renovations.

Funding for the improvements came through the passage of the Penny for Pasco, which voters extended in 2012.

Cafeteria workers have a renovated kitchen at Woodland Elementary School.

“Today is just so exciting,” Altman said on the video, referring to the project’s completion.

He noted he was pleased “to see a beautiful school that’s going to serve the students and the families of the Zephyrhills area for years and years to come.”

As Butcher made her way around campus, she said the new cafeteria can serve twice as many students at once, allowing the school to trim down time needed to serve lunch each day.

The old cafeteria is now four classrooms, and the old kitchen is now a lab for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Other improvements include new furniture for the school’s existing classrooms, media center and teacher workroom, Butcher said.

Restrooms were updated, too.

When the school was built in 1976, it was designed for 652 students. As enrollment grew, more and more portable classrooms were moved onto campus to accommodate students.

The school’s new capacity is 900.

Published August 15, 2018

Solar farm appeal is rescheduled

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A hearing on appeals to a proposed solar farm project has been rescheduled because of a glitch in advertising the original hearing date.

The Pasco County Commission, with the approval of all parties involved in the matter, agreed to continue the appeal until Sept. 4 at 1:30 p.m.

The original appeal had been set for Aug. 7.

The appeal will be heard in the commissioners’ meeting room in Dade City.

Two appeals were filed after the Pasco County Planning Commission approved a special exception permit for the solar farm in April.

One came from Gordon and Kathleen Comer; the other from Sandra Noble. Noble and the Comers live near the proposed project site, off Blanton Road, outside Dade City.

First Solar Electric, which has a contract with Tampa Electric Company (TECO), wants to install about 460,000 photovoltaic solar panels on about 350 acres, on both sides of Blanton Road. The solar farm, known as the Mountain View Solar Project, would produce on average of about 53 megawatts of power, which would be fed to TECO’s power grid.

The project has been controversial, and drew large, impassioned crowds to previous hearings.

Area neighbors say the project will destroy one of the county’s best assets – its scenic views. They also differ with how county officials have interpreted Pasco’s development regulations, and say that the solar farm is a power plant that should be placed in an industrial district.

County officials say the solar farm doesn’t fit the legal definition of a power plant, but it is suitable in some agriculturally zoned areas, with a special exception permit. They also say Pasco’s regulations are in line with how other counties approve solar farms.

Published August 15, 2018

Nurturing quilts uplift spirits in the courtroom

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When children enter Judge Lynn Tepper’s family courtroom in Dade City, they’re often welcomed with healthy snacks, stuffed animals, and lots and lots of books.

Another staple in Tepper’s courtroom of late: Dozens of homemade quilts, stitched with an assortment of bright colors, shapes and other unique designs.

The quilts are given to adoptive parents and caregivers of infants and young children, to help form a nurturing bond for families navigating custody cases.

Members of the Rotary Club of San Antonio donated a batch of handmade quilts to Judge Tepper’s courtroom. The quilts are given to adoptive parents and caregivers of infants and young children, to help form a nurturing bond for families navigating custody cases. (Kevin Weiss)

They’re made and donated by members of the Rotary Club of San Antonio, as part of one of its many community service projects.

Creations range from small baby quilts to full-size bed quilts. Handbags have even been designed for older children.

“The quilts have been amazing,” said Tepper, who oversees dependency, delinquency and domestic violence cases for the 6th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.

“It’s a positive thing for (parents) to wrap around the baby or when the baby is now starting to come home with them. It’s just such a positive — the expression is so positive that they’re coming here, giving them something.”

For Tepper, the quilts are part of a broader theme of facilitating positive, impactful relationships for youth in her courtroom, many of which have experienced adverse childhood experiences, such as abuse and neglect.

“It is a buffering relationship that makes the difference,” said Tepper, who’s served on the bench for 34 years. “You should see the look on the parents’ faces. …They just get such a kick out of them. My bailiff loves to give them away.”

Rotary club members last week handed off another batch of quilts to Tepper, who was the featured guest speaker at the organization’s monthly dinner meeting at the Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club.

Her talk centered on trauma-informed care and the importance of getting to the root of societal problems through rehabilitation, as opposed to outright punishment.

“She likes to take care of the children,” San Antonio rotary club member and past president Winnie Burke says of Tepper. “It’s good when they come in, for them to have something to be happy…”

Fellow Rotarian Betty Burke earlier this year came up with the idea of donating quilts to Tepper, after she picked up the craft.

“I have a great time (quilting),” Burke said. “I just started doing it, but I’m having a wonderful time, enjoying it.”

Burke enjoys it even more knowing the creations are being put to good use — uplifting the spirits of children going through challenging circumstances.

She explained: “You know, these kids come to court, sometimes they have nothing. If they’re abused and taken out of the homes in the middle of the night, they might not have any clothes but what’s on their backs, so we thought, ‘Well, if they get a quilt, this is theirs (and) something that belongs to them.”

Burke has also enlisted the help of a few quilting friends, like Darlene Kirkpatrick, who work together on producing creative, thematic patterns.

“I just love creating things,” said Kirkpatrick, who’s been quilting for over 20 years using scraps of materials from yard sales. “And then when you get a quilt, (it’s fun) trying to decide what kind of pattern to put on. Some have flowers, others have Xs. You just kind of look at the quilt for awhile and try to decide what you’re going to do.”

About 40 quilts have been donated to Tepper already this year.

Many feature squares with vibrant colors. Others have more unique patterns much like the American Flag or Christmas designs. Some are designed with characters, like Snoopy.

The rotary club plans to continue donating quilts “as long as somebody can use ‘em,” Burke said.

“We try to make different ones that appeal to different kids,” Burke said. “I call mine ‘happy quilts’ because they’re bright colors and they make me happy, and they can make somebody happy.”

The Rotary Club of San Antonio was founded in 2005, and is one of eight clubs in east Pasco County.

Rotarians are governed by Rotary International, which has about 1.2 million members in 32,000 clubs in 200 countries and geographic areas, according to the international organization’s website.

Published August 8, 2018

Work to get started on makeover of Zephyrhills High School

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A major overhaul is planned at Zephyrhills High School, and the Pasco County School Board approved a contract last week to get started on the project.

The board approved a contract not-to-exceed $396,846 with Creative Contractors to complete the early site package for the project.

“We will be bringing a full presentation in the fall on the entire project,” said Betsy Kuhn, assistant superintendent for support services. “This is just what gets us started.”

The construction phase will be split into two contracts: One for the renovation work and one for the addition.

The first phase will involve building a new classroom building, Mike Gude, director of construction services and code compliance, told the The Laker/Lutz News in a previous interview.

When the new building is completed, students can be shifted into that building and another phase of the project can begin, Gude said.

When the project is finished, the high school’s capacity is expected to increase by about 500 students.

Published August 1, 2018

Local horsewoman wins with You Bet Your Roses

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Nancy Massey Perkins made a decision on Mother’s Day two years ago that it was time to buy a horse.

“I bought her sight unseen, except for the video I watched on the Internet,” said Perkins, the daughter of two Zephyrhills’ pioneer families. “I thought she was cute and moved really good.”

Her instincts were right about the 2-year-old mare.

You Bet Your Roses, at age 4, is now a two-time reserve world champion after an impressive showing at the 53rd annual Pinto World Championship in Oklahoma, in June.

Nancy Massey Perkins skillfully guided You Bet Your Roses, aka Sierra, through an obstacle course at the Pinto World Championship in Oklahoma. (Courtesy of Nancy Massey Perkins)

The world championship is one of the largest gatherings of Pinto horses, miniatures and ponies. Riders and horses come from around the world, including Sweden and Canada.

Competitive categories include Western, English, driving, pleasure, halter, roping, and special events and trials.

Perkins, at age 66, is one of the oldest amateur competitors in her age 50-and-older class.

However, You Bet Your Roses – also known by the barn name Sierra – is an up-and-coming youngster in the horse world.

With little more than a year of training by Perkins, Sierra showed her mettle in the show ring. She shone in a competition against horses with more experience.

“She competed with world champions and former world champions,” Perkins said.

You Bet Your Roses and Perkins earned a reserve world champion, or runner-up, in the walk/trot trail class, among 26 competitors. They finished just shy of first place.

Perkins and You Bet Your Roses also won a reserve world championship in a halter competition among 3- and 4-year old horses; a third place in English showmanship; and 10th in another halter competition.

Perkins’ favorite is the trail class, where the rider and horse navigate an obstacle course with precision, control and timing.

It is much more involved and complicated than showmanship, said her husband, Donald “Dusty” Perkins.

“She is very capable of coming out with a win,” he said. “Nancy knows how to get them to be sharp. It’s her personality with the horse.”

Perkins said she banked on training and Sierra’s willingness to listen to her.

“It had to be a team approach,” Perkins said. “Sierra trusted me, and that to me was the highlight of my whole trip, really that my horse came through, and she listened.”

From their first meeting, Perkins knew she had a special horse.

Nancy Massey Perkins and You Bet Your Roses won two reserve championships at the Pinto World Championship in Oklahoma. They brought home other awards, too.

“She’s laid back, highly intelligent and really sweet,” she said. “She loves people.”

Her first two years were spent in Oklahoma on the Osage Indian Reservation.

When Sierra arrived, Perkins contacted owners of Red Hawk Ranch in Wimauma to do a Native American blessing.

“I felt the need to do that, since she grew up on an Indian reservation,” Perkins said. “I felt the need to honor the culture.”

Perkins is no novice in the horse arena.

She has a trophy case filled with ribbons, belts and accolades from more than 40 years of international horse shows aboard the quarter horses she has raised and trained.

She was honored as “amateur supreme champion” by the American Quarter Horse Association, with her horse, League Magnum Force. He went by the barn name of Bubba.

You Bet Your Roses, aka Sierra, is registered with the American Paint Horse Association and the American Pinto Horse Association.

She has the color pattern of a tobiano pinto horse, with white across her withers and hip.

Her sire is Gentlemen Send Roses, who is fourth on the American Paint Horse Association’s Performance Sire list for 2017. Her dam is a full-blooded quarter horse.

“She’s the spitting image of her daddy,” said Perkins.

Perkins’ father, Boyd “Bud” Massey, bought Perkins her first horse at age 11.

She knew pretty quickly she wanted to show horses.

So, at age 16, Bud Massey, gave her a choice of a used car or a horse. She took the horse.

But, she didn’t get her first choice of an Appaloosa.

Instead, her father bought a registered quarter horse.

She has been a passionate, and award-winning, horsewoman since.

Perkins traces her roots back to Pasco County’s pioneer days.

Bud Massey cut hair at his Zephyrhills’ barbershop for more than 52 years. It was the longest continuously operated barbershop in Pasco.

Massey Road is named for the family.

Before marrying Perkins’ father, her mother — Hazel Richburg — grew up on Handcart Road in Zephyrhills.

“They were actively involved as my cheering crew all my life,” the horsewoman said.

Perkins worked as a teacher for 35 years in Pasco County schools. She is still a substitute teacher to pay for her “hobby.”

She is unusual in being both an owner and a trainer. Most owners hire trainers, and in some cases, might not see their horse except at horse shows.

Perkins is strictly hands-on.

Horses learn by your body language, she said.

Her years teaching students also taught Perkins something about patience.

“Nothing is learned under harsh treatment,” she said. “You’ve got to adapt to every class. It taught me patience. You can’t push things. You have to wait for (Sierra’s) ‘ah, ha moment.’”

She credits trainers, such as Kim Beilein, with encouraging her, and in advising her about what’s right and wrong with her performances.

“I’ve forged some great relationships with trainers who have really helped me out,” Perkins said.

Published July 25, 2018

Land acquisition begins for road project

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The Pasco County Commission has given the go-ahead for land acquisition in preparation for a project to extend Clinton Avenue and realign State Road 52.

Planning for the major project began nearly 14 years ago, with a route study. Since then, there have been additional studies and public meetings, but no construction schedule.

In March, residents attended an open house to study maps and learn about the updates to a 2005 Curley Road Route Study, and review other road projects in northeast Pasco County. (File)

But, it wasn’t until July 10 that commissioners approved the project and authorized the acquisition of 69 parcels through eminent domain.

Construction is expected to begin in 2019.

The project will widen State Road 52 from two lanes to four lanes, from east of Uradco Place to east of Fort King Road, at the intersection with Clinton Avenue.

State Road 52 also will shift westward. And, a roundabout is planned at the intersection with Mirada Boulevard, an internal road for the master-planned community of Mirada.

Sufficient right of way will be acquired to accommodate a future six-lane road. The project is about 7 miles long.

The parcels are needed for right of way, as permanent and temporary easements, and to construct stormwater ponds for drainage.

To initiate eminent domain, county commissioners approved a resolution that shows a public purpose for the project.

According to county documents, the roadwork “will enhance mobility, improve traffic operations, and provide safety for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.”

Various studies have focused on interconnecting segments of the proposed project.

In March, county officials invited residents to an open house to learn information on the Prospect Road/Happy Hill Road Route Study.

A similar open house was held in 2017, as part of efforts to update the Curley Road Route Study that originally was done in 2005.

Published July 25, 2018

Appeal scheduled for solar farm project

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A decision on a controversial solar farm in northeast Pasco County is headed to an appeal at a public hearing on Aug. 7 in Dade City before the Pasco County Commission.

Two appeals were filed in May on the decision by the Pasco County Planning Commission to approve an exceptional use permit for the project.

Tampa Electric Company, TECO, wants to install a solar farm on land off Blanton Road, outside Dade City. Shown is a solar farm in Big Bend in Hillsborough County. (File)

One appeal is from Sandra Noble and the other from Tampa attorney Gordon Schiff on behalf of his clients, Gordon and Kathleen Comer. Noble and the Comers live near the proposed project site.

First Solar Electric, which has a contract with Tampa Electric Company (TECO), wants to install about 460,000 photovoltaic solar panels on about 350 acres, on both sides of Blanton Road. The solar farm, known as the Mountain View Solar Project, would produce on average about 53 megawatts of power, which would be fed to TECO’s power grid.

The project has produced spirited debate at previous hearings.

Area neighbors say the project will destroy one of the county’s best assets – its scenic views. They also differ with how county officials have interpreted Pasco’s development regulations, and say that the solar farm is a power plant that should be placed in an industrial district.

County officials say the solar farm doesn’t fit the legal definition of a power plant, but it is suitable in some agriculturally zoned areas, with a special exemption permit. They also say Pasco’s regulations are in line with how other counties approve solar farms.

Commissioners approved the Aug. 7 appeal hearing date during their July 10 meeting in Dade City.

They discussed other dates in September and October, after Pasco County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder said the people who filed the appeals had objected to the August date.

However, commissioners cited scheduling conflicts and stuck with the hearing in August.

Published July 18, 2018

New and renovated schools planned

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The Pasco County School Board received an overview last week on projects planned to construct, renovate, expand and repair schools across the district.

They also heard a wrap-up on projects in progress or finished this year.

The presentation, by Chris Williams, director of planning services and Olga Swinson, chief finance officer, came as the district prepares to vote on a final capital construction budget in September.

Numerous projects are underway or planned in communities across central and east Pasco County.

Major milestones this past year have included:

  • Beginning the design of the Cypress Creek Middle School
  • Finishing the site development for Starkey K-8, as well as designing that faciilty
  • Replacing the roof at Denham Oaks.
  • Continuing work on massive renovations at Land O’ Lakes High School and Woodland Elementary, and adding capacity to both locations
  • Purchasing 30 cng buses and five diesel buses, and 35 radios
  • Purchasing more than 8,000 computer and laptops, and more than 2,400 iPads

Major projects planned for 2018-2019:

  • Beginning a major overhaul at Zephyrhills High School, which includes adding capacity
  • Continuing the Land O’ Lakes High and Woodland Elementary projects
  • Beginning construction of Cypress Creek Middle School
  • Continuing design of Starkey K-8
  • Working with the Pasco County library system on the Starkey Library/Theater design
  • Purchasing 40 diesel buses, 40 radios and several fleet trucks and service vehicles
  • Purchasing more than 7,000 computers and laptops and about 1,290 iPads.

As the district continues to build, it also continues to grow, Williams said.

Here’s a look at the renovation project that is giving a new look to Woodland Elementary School, and expanding its capacity. (File)

The big question is which areas will grow at the fastest pace, requiring new schools first, the planning director said.

He gave board members an overview of the current situation.

Odessa Elementary is projected to be at 114 percent, Williams said, adding that he expects relief for that school to come when Starkey K-8 opens, which is scheduled for 2021.

“I’m also concerned about Connerton (Elementary). They’re projected to be at 944 students this coming year, or 124 percent of capacity,” he said.

The district has opened up some additional seats at Sanders Memorial Elementary STEAM Magnet School, giving applications from Connerton students a higher priority, Williams said, so hopes that will help reduce Connerton’s enrollment.

School board member Colleen Beaudoin also suggested the district do more to advertise Pine View Elementary School’s candidacy program for the IB Primary Years Programme.

Some students might choose to attend Pine View, if the families knew about that program, she said.

“Pine View and Connerton are so close. Maybe some families might want to get into that (IB) pipeline,” Beaudoin said.

In Wesley Chapel, there are some schools near the new Union Park Charter Academy that are over capacity, but Williams expects the charter school to have significant impact on enrollment at nearby schools.

“Union Park is up to 483 students,” Williams noted.

In addition to affecting elementary enrollments, it also will affect middle schools because the charter school is for kindergarten through eighth grade students.

Meanwhile, in Zephryhills, Woodland Elementary School’s enrollment is well over capacity, but the district is adding capacity at the school as part of the current renovation, Williams added.

The district expects to increase its middle school capacity with the opening of Cypress Creek Middle in 2020 and with the opening Starkey K-8 in 2021.

When Cypress Creek Middle opens, it will help to relieve crowding at Wiregrass Ranch, which is projected to be at 139 percent of its capacity.

Here’s what the common area will look like when the Land O’ Lakes High School project is finished. (File)

When the middle school opens, Cypress Creek High’s capacity will increase substantially.

The district also is hoping to open an East Side Technical High School in 2022, which will affect enrollments at high schools on the east side of the county, Williams said.

Williams said Central Pasco’s growth does pose challenges.

“Sunlake High School is of concern because it still continues to grow,” he said.

The district has a future high school in the Bexley area, as well as the Starkey area, Williams said.

“We have to continue to evaluate when it makes sense to try to add additional capacity,” he added.

The district’s construction needs and maintenance needs continue to grow, but it doesn’t have the revenues to match the needs, Swinson said, forcing the district to put off projects that are needed because it doesn’t have the money.

Projected revenues for capital purposes remain lower than they were in 2007-2008, she said.

Major projects for 2018-2019:

  • Beginning renovation at Zephyrhills High School: Includes massive overhaul, as well as adding capacity.
  • Continuing major renovations at Land O’ Lakes High and Woodland Elementary
  • Starting construction on Cypress Creek Middle School
  • Continuing Starkey K-8 design
  • Working with the Pasco County library system on the Starkey Library/Theater design
  • Purchasing 40 diesel buses, 40 radios and several fleet trucks and service vehicles
  • Purchasing more than 7,000 computers and laptops, and about 1,290 iPads.

Some things truly are priceless

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Remember finding a coin or arrowhead and wondering if it’s worth anything?

Imagine having a large document signed by Abraham Lincoln, passed down from one generation to the next, and not really knowing its value or its history with the nation’s 16th president.

For now, it has a safe and protected place in the home of 84-year-old Martha M. Fountain, a lifelong resident of Zephyrhills.

Dated December 15, 1864, Martha Fountain proudly holds ‘The President’s Thanks and Certificate of Honorable Service’ signed by Abraham Lincoln at the Executive Mansion in Washington City.
(Doug Sanders)

She lives in a community that was founded in 1909 by Capt. Howard B. Jeffries as a retirement colony for Union Civil War Veterans.

A newspaper man himself, Jeffries would not have missed the opportunity to write about Martha.

She has been the artifact’s owner since her husband’s death in 2016.

Married for 31 years to Guy Joseph Fountain Jr., Martha remembers the document hanging in her husband’s office of the Best Way Electric Company in Dade City.

“I’m not much into history,” Martha explained during a recent interview in her home, with her caregiver at her side. “I don’t know much about my husband’s family history,” she added.

Following six months of research with several military websites and The History Center at the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village north of Dade City, the remarkable life of the man named on the Lincoln document begins to emerge.

It turns out Guy Fountain had a great-great uncle named Samuel Warren Fountain.

He was only 15-years-old at the outbreak of the American Civil War on April 12, 1861.

Samuel had to wait until 1864 before joining an infantry of the 8th Corps of the Army of West Virginia, which became famous for having future U.S. presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley serving in its ranks.

As part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864, Samuel Warren Fountain served under Maj. Gen. David Hunter during the Civil War. Hunter later achieved fame as the president of the military commission trying the conspirators involved with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
(Robert Massey)

Samuel Fountain graduated from West Point on June 15, 1870, four months before the death of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Lexington, Virginia.

Commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the 8th U.S. Cavalry, he was active for the next 20 years in military campaigns against Geronimo and Sitting Bull.

He once described a skirmish in New Mexico as “rough country where horses cannot go.”

During the Spanish-American War, Samuel Fountain served first commanding a squadron of the 8th Cavalry in Cuba.

As Adjutant General in the Philippine Islands, a captain on his staff was John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, who later served as the commander of the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front during World War I.

In 1904, when Fountain was a lieutenant colonel, he was put in charge of security at the St. Louis World’s Fair.

According to the Arlington National Cemetery website, a local newspaper reported this:

“Under his direction the members of the guard controlled the great mass of people…and on the last day of the Fair, when disorder and vandalism were feared, every officer and member of the guard was on duty, and so placed that when the lights were out and the World’s Fair at St. Louis had passed into history, not a disorderly act had occurred, or a dollar’s worth of property had been destroyed.”

Ironically, Geronimo was also at the fair as a living exhibit intended as a “monument to the progress of civilization.” Under guard, he made bows and arrows while Pueblo women seated beside him pounded corn and made pottery. Geronimo also sold autographs and posed for pictures.

President Abraham Lincoln’s signature remains legible after 154 years.
(Doug Sanders)

Samuel Fountain was a brigadier general a year before the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in the nation’s capital. He gave a speech about Abraham Lincoln during his appearance before the Union League Club of Philadelphia on February 9, 1921:

“Other men have reunited a divided nation, or liberated an enslaved race, or carried to conclusion a fratricidal war, or swept immoral institutions from the earth by consummate Statesmanship; but no man ever combined and carried through, chiefly by the clarity of his mind and the purity of his character, several such gigantic enterprises in half a decade.”

Samuel Fountain died on Nov. 15, 1930, five months after the birth of Guy Fountain, and six years before the death of Capt. Howard Jeffries in New York City on March 20, 1936.

Martha Fountain recalls turning down an offer to sell the Lincoln document still in her possession.

But, with no children, she is undecided about its future.

At this point, she’s not sure what she will do with it. Before doing anything, she plans to consult her lawyer, John Council.

Council has had his own brush with preserving history, having a law office in Dade City at the historic red brick jailhouse, where the last legal hanging in Pasco County was carried out on Jan. 4, 1918.

More programs, initiatives, on tap at PHSC, provost says

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Pasco-Hernando State College — which recently has been recognized as one of the top schools in the nation for its return on educational investment — continues to add new programs and initiatives.

That was the message that Dr. Stan Giannet, the college’s provost, delivered to a crowd at a recent Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce breakfast at the Golden Corral.

Pasco-Hernando State College provost Dr. Stan Giannet was the featured guest speaker at the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce July 5 monthly breakfast meeting at Golden Corral. He discussed some of the new programs and initiatives the state college has in the works.
(Kevin Weiss)

The state college received notification from the Department of Education last month that it was one of the top schools for affordability in bachelor’s degree programs.

And, earlier this year, WalletHub, a national economic magazine, ranked PHSC among the top three community colleges in the nation for return on educational investment, out of more than 800 candidate schools. The WalletHub study took into account student learning outcomes plus the cost.

“We’re a major state power in higher education,” said Giannet, who has been at PHSC for more than 27 years.

Giannet, also PHSC’s vice president of academic affairs, said the college has “exceeded every metric” from employability, to test score passage rates in workforce programs — suggesting over 95 percent of PHSC students who graduate with associate of science degrees or receive technical certificates find employment in their chosen career field.

“There’s nothing worse for a college to do than to have a degree program where students invest money, invest time, get out in the workforce and (find) they’re not employable in the industry or the career of their choice. We don’t have that,” he said.

The state college provides training for more than 30 careers in business, health, industry and technology, and public service through new bachelor’s degree, Associate in Science degree and certificate programs.

And, while he’s proud of the institution’s growth and achievements over time, the college has much more on tap, Giannet said.

The state college has more than 15,000 students and 500 faculty and staff members across its five full-service campuses in Brooksville, Dade City, New Port Richey, Spring Hill and Wesley Chapel.

Giannet told the crowd: “We have a lot of things in the pipeline.”

The state college is building a $15.5 million performing arts instructional center, expected to be complete by Aug. 2020.

The facility will be built on a 5.5-acre tract of land donated by Pasco County Schools on the campus of Cypress Creek Middle High School, off Old Pasco Road in Wesley Chapel.

Expanding its program and degree offerings
The state college plans to develop an Associate’s of Science degree in digital design and graphic multi-media technologies, and, Associate’s of Arts degrees in dance, music, and theatre. Several accompanying technical certificate programs also will be offered through the arts center.

The arts center will be shared with Pasco County Schools, and will be a venue for various community events.

“It’s going to be fantastic,” Giannet said.

The college also is working on other degree offerings, he said.

Pasco-Hernando State College boasts 5,000-plus students and 500 faculty members and staffers across five full-service campuses in Brooksville, Dade City, New Port Richey, Spring Hill and Wesley Chapel. (File)

The college offers two four-year degree programs currently, and is working to identify a third, Giannet said. The current four-year degrees, introduced in 2014, are for a bachelor of science in nursing and a bachelor of applied science in supervision and management. The college also is working with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office to develop an A.S. degree in crime scene technology and forensics.

That program will likely be offered at the Dade City campus, with clinical training opportunities at the Adam Kennedy Forensics Field “body farm” on the grounds of the Pasco Sheriff’s detention facility in Land O’ Lakes.

The college also is gearing up for several contract and corporate workforce training programs that are set to come online.

Among them are a 911 training program for the Hernando Sheriff’s Office; a child protection services leadership program for the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office; a medical scribe exclusive online training program; and, a childhood education certification program for the Pasco and Hernando school districts.

Elsewhere, PHSC is expanding its welding technology program to the west side of the county.

The welding program has been offered on the Dade City campus.

Now, Giannet said night classes will be available Marchman Technical College in New Port Richey, thanks to a developmental partnership between the college and Pasco County Schools.

That expansion is much needed due to an increased demand for certified welders and lack of programming the county’s west side, the provost said.

“We have a huge waiting list for welding on this (east) side of the county,” Giannet said. Our welders, when they graduate from our college, they’re snatched up by the industry. “It’s a win-win situation for our community,” he added.

Giannet also talked about the college’s new aviation program, which debuted last year.

The college offers four aviation-related associate degree programs — professional pilot technology, aviation administration, aviation maintenance administration, and unmanned vehicle systems.

Several PHSC students have already become certified pilots — including a female pilot in what is “a traditionally male-dominated industry,” Giannet noted.

He expects the program to skyrocket in the coming years.

“Aviation is going to be the hottest industry in the nation, with the impending shortage and retirement of all these aviation professionals…so we’re really excited for that program,” the provost said.

The college is next looking to create more aviation partnership, with facilities such as the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport.

It already has an existing partnership with American Aviation Flight Academy, at the Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport, he said.

Published July 11, 2018