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Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

Browning talks school safety, other issues

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More than a year since the Parkland school shooting claimed the lives of 17 students and faculty members, ensuring school safety remains a forefront priority for Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning.

Browning discussed that, and a number of other school issues, as the featured guest speaker at the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce March breakfast meeting at the Pasco-Hernando State College Porter Campus in Wesley Chapel.

“Parkland kind of rocked our world,” Browning said, during the breakfast meeting. “It really shook everybody’s core about the magnitude of what our responsibility is about making sure that our kids are safe in our schools.”

Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning was the featured guest speaker at the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce March breakfast meeting. (Kevin Weiss)

Browning said Pasco Schools have made a number of sweeping changes to enhance school safety, in the wake of the February 2018 tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida.

Among the most noteworthy, Browning said, was the district hiring around 60 armed school safety guards to place in elementary schools — in addition to school resource officers at all middle and high schools — to comply with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, also known as Senate Bill 7026. The district’s safety guards are required to have a minimum of 10 years of experience in the military or law enforcement.

Browning explained the safety guards have quickly made a positive impact on school campuses, by taking on a mentoring relationship with students, which, in turn, has led to fewer discipline referrals districtwide.

“These men and women are kicking it,” Browning said. “Just having that presence on the campus has been significant, has been incredible for this district, and also provides a sense of security, and, it does provide security.

“We’re much more tight about who’s on campus. If you don’t have a (identification) badge on, they’re going to ask you where you are from or what you’re doing on campus.”

As another safety measure, Browning said district schools are getting upgraded door locks, thanks in part to a security grant from the Florida Department of Education, whereby classroom doors can lock from the inside when they are closed.

“There’s no getting back in that room unless you have a key,” said Browning. “Whether teachers or principals like it or not, those doors are going to lock, and you better have a key on your body if you want to get back in a classroom, because your kids need to be safe and they need to be protected.”

The school district is also “installing a lot more (security) cameras,” Browning said.

Browning also mentioned there’s a districtwide policy requiring gates and classroom doors to be locked and secured during school hours.

Browning said the policy — put into effect a week after the Parkland shooting — received pushback from some teachers and administrators, who called it “inconvenient” at the time.

“I don’t want to hear about how inconvenient it is that you’ve got to wear a key on your lanyard to get back into your door,” Browning said of those complaints. “It would be inconvenient for me to have to stand before a bank of national TV cameras explaining how someone got onto our campus, and worse yet, got into your classroom. That’s what’s inconvenient to me.”

He continued, “Kids needs to be safe in our schools. Parents need to have the expectation when you drop your child off at our school that they’re going to be safe.”

Besides addressing school safety, the superintendent offered an update to some new school projects in East Pasco, including the new Cypress Creek Middle School being built next to Cypress Creek Middle High School, which opened in 2017.

“We have broken ground. We are tearing ground open. We are putting walls down at Cypress Creek Middle School,” Browning said.

The new middle school is set to open in 2020.

Once complete, the approximately 185,000-square-foot to 195,000-square-foot middle school will become Pasco’s largest middle school. It will serve more than 1,600 students in grades six through eight.

Related to that, Browning said the school district is set to undergo another redistricting either later this year or early next year, whereby students from Seven Oaks Elementary will likely be zoned to the Cypress Creek schools — a measure to reduce overcrowding at John Long Middle and Wiregrass Ranch High schools, respectively.

Browning also said moves are being made to bring a technical high school to East Pasco.

“We’re getting ready to break ground. We’re in the design stage now,” Browning said.

The superintendent explained that district officials are leaning toward having the unnamed technical school built on the recently purchased 104-acre Kirkland Ranch property, situated at the southeast corner of Curley and Kiefer roads.

The district has also considered the technical school for a 125-acre tract along Handcart and Fairview Heights roads.

Browning, however, said the Kirkland Ranch property may present a more desirable location once the new Interstate 75 interchange at Overpass Road is completed.

“It’s a good shot from Zephyrhills, a great shot from Wesley Chapel, and a great shot from Dade City,” Browning said.

Either way, Browning said a technical school would help relieve overcrowding concerns at Pasco, Wesley Chapel, Wiregrass Ranch and Zephyrhills high schools.

“It will lower the numbers again in those schools, but also give kids in this area a technical education if that’s what they want to do,” he said.

Elsewhere, the superintendent touched on teacher salaries — and finding ways to boost them.

Browning said he’s having ongoing discussions with district staff about the possibility of holding a millage election “solely for the purpose of paying our teachers more money.”

“The mission we have in Pasco is paying teachers,” Browning said. “We’ve got to make an investment in our teachers.”

Published March 20, 2019

The Laker/Lutz News claims 18 awards in state contest

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The Laker/Lutz News brought home 18 awards from the Community Papers of Florida 2018 Awards for Excellence competition.

The annual statewide contest recognizes outstanding work in advertising, writing and photography.

On the advertising side, The Laker/Lutz News design staff garnered 11 awards in these categories:

  • Advertising campaign: First place, Stefanie Burlingame and Matthew Mistretta, The Lakes Floral & Gifts; and Second place, Stefanie Burlingame, New Age Medical Center
  • Professional Services Advertising – less than half page: First place, Stefanie Burlingame, Evolution; and Second place, Stefanie Burlingame, Pet Point Animal Hospital
  • Self-promotion: Stefanie Burlingame, First place
  • Theme promotion: First place, Matthew Mistretta, Faith and Worship; and Second place, Matthew Mistretta, Home Section
  • Automotive advertising: Third place, Matthew Mistretta, Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube
  • Real estate advertising – half page or more: Third place, Stefanie Burlingame, Advantage Real Estate Services
  • Real estate advertising – less than half page: Third place, Stefanie Burlingame, Allen Collins Realty
  • Spot color: Third place, Stefanie Burlingame, Treasured Pets Resort & Spa
The Lakes Floral & Gifts ad campaign garnered first place for Stefanie Burlingame and Matt Mistretta in the Community Papers of Florida 2018 Awards for Excellence competition.

The judges provided comments only for entries receiving a first place honor.

For the Evolution ad, one judge wrote, “this ad looks three-dimensional. The blurry Christmas tree in the background makes everything in the foreground stand out. The use of space and offer is perfect.”

For the Faith and Worship Theme Page, a judge noted “the overall layout and presentation of this page gives the reader several easy-to-find church services in the community. Each ad is clean and easy to read.”

In the Advertising Campaign category for The Lakes Floral & Gifts, one judge commented, “These ads are in full bloom! The use of color and composition make the ad series consistent and appealing to the reader. Well done.” Another judge pointed out “the color really makes this campaign POP!” Another judge noted, “A consistent look with strong, dominant artwork and vibrant colors makes for an effective campaign.”

Diane Kortus, the newspaper’s publisher, received third place recognition for a personal column she wrote about Valentine’s Day. The column observed that Valentine’s Day is not just an opportunity to celebrate romantic love, but also love for family, friends and colleagues.

The editorial team of Fred Bellet, Christine Holtzman, B.C. Manion, Kevin Weiss and Randy Underhill received honors in four categories.

  • News Story: First place
  • Best Original Writing: Third place
  • Best Original Photographic Spread: Second place and Third place
  • Best Independent Photo Feature: Two second-place honors

Manion won first place for her news story about local students at Wiregrass Ranch High School, in Wesley Chapel, joining a national walkout in the wake of the Valentine’s Day shooting spree that left 17 dead and 17 injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida.

One judge said the piece was “well-sourced” and called it “a descriptive narrative of this event.”

Weiss won third place for his profile about a reality show featuring the Bellamy Brothers, their music and their life on a 200-acre ranch in Darby.

Holtzman took home two second-place photography honors in the best independent photo feature category. One was for her photograph of a small child blowing a bubble and the other for an appearance that Mr. Tommy made at a local library.

Bellet received second place in the Best Original Photographic Spread Category for his collection of photos of a softball team for players with special needs. Underhill captured third place in the same category for his photos of a father-daughter dance at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex.

Published October 17, 2018

Pasco Schools plan to beef up security

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Pasco County Schools is seeking state approval of a plan that calls for adding security cameras in schools and changing locks on doors at schools throughout the district.

The district wants the state to approve the plan, so it can use about $2 million in state money to pay for the security improvements.

The security upgrade aims to comply with a mandate that school districts across the state assess the safety of their schools and produce a plan to improve it. That requirement came in response to the Valentine’s Day shooting spree that left 17 dead and 17 injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Christopher Stowe, director of safety and security for Pasco County Schools, recently outlined the district’s proposed plan to upgrade security at schools throughout the district. (B.C. Manion)

Pasco County Schools worked with law enforcement officials from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and the New Port Richey, Zephyrhills and Dade City police departments in assessing their school campuses, according to Assistant Superintendent Betsy Kuhn.

After completing those assessments, the district identified themes it could address using the state grant money, said Christopher Stowe, the school district’s director of safety and security.

It decided to use the state money to “raise the security of all schools in the county, rather than kind of pinpoint one or two.

“We want to make equitable use of the funds that we’re going to be getting with the grants, to make sure all of our schools are going to be increasing their security,” Stowe said.

Much of the work focused on determining how the district could improve security using existing work orders, Stowe added, noting improvements, such as repairing or trimming landscaping to improve sight lines on campuses, can be achieved by district staff.

The grant money would be used to ensure that all Pasco County Schools have security cameras and that door locks will be changed so that teachers will not need to go outside of their classroom to lock the door.

Equipping the schools with security cameras will cost more than $800,000.

The new locks ensure that doors are locked at all times. People can leave a room without a key, but can’t enter without a key, unless someone lets them in.

It will cost about $1.2 million to change the locks on 3,000 doors.

During a presentation on the plan before the Pasco County School Board last week, Superintendent Kurt Browning noted: “I want to make sure that it’s clear that the funds that are being discussed here are funds that have been specifically appropriated for this purpose.

“These are not funds that could be used for raises. These are not funds that can be used for other things,” Browning said.

School board member Allen Altman thanked local law enforcement officials for their help on the effort to assess the district’s schools and share their expertise.

“In talking to other school districts around the state, they do not have the level of cooperation that we have had, and they are struggling to get this done,” he said.

“The fact that this has been a true team effort, and that they have communicated and worked together has been extraordinary — when you talk to other people around the state,” Altman observed.

He also noted: “It does make parents and staff feel better to know that everybody is on the same page and working together, and we don’t have the turf battles that have gone on in other places in the state.”

School board chairwoman Cynthia Armstrong also expressed her appreciation to local law enforcement agencies for their help.

“We very much want to keep that line of communication open,” Armstrong said.

No timetable has been established for the security improvements, Kuhn said. The district must await approval of state grant money for its plan before proceeding to have the work done.

Published October 10, 2018

Students ring in the 2018-2019 school year

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As a new academic year begins, students heading to Florida public schools will be welcomed to campuses that are now protected by armed security.

The Florida Legislature mandated the armed guards at public school campuses across the state in response to the Valentine’s Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that left 17 students and staff members dead, and 17 others injured.

But, the additional security is just one of many changes awaiting students at schools across The Laker/Lutz News coverage area.

Some students will be heading to entirely new campuses.

The North Tampa Christian Academy, is opening at 5619 E. County Line Road in Wesley Chapel. It will serve students from age 2 through 12th grade.

Union Park Charter Academy, a charter public school, is another new school. It is opening, at 32775 Oldwoods Ave., in Wesley Chapel. It is a kindergarten through eighth grade school, but this year will be serving only students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Meanwhile, in Land O’ Lakes, students and faculty arriving at Land O’ Lakes High School will continue to see a campus in the midst of a major makeover. There’s still a considerable amount of work left to do, but the project involves a substantial upgrade of the facility.

Students and staff at Woodland Elementary School in Zephyrhills will find a campus that has already undergone a massive makeover.

And, while it’s not noticeable yet, Zephyrhills High School is gearing up to begin a renovation that also will breathe new life into the facility.

There are changes on the academic front, too.

Cypress Creek Middle High School, in Wesley Chapel, for instance, will have its first senior class.

And, Pine View Middle School, at 5334 Parkway Blvd., is starting the new school year as Pasco County’s first authorized IB Middle Years Programme World School.

The middle school has worked long and hard to achieve the distinction, dating back to May of 2015 when it became an IB candidate school.

In addition to that new distinction, Pine View also has been named a magnet school, which means that students who live outside of the school’s attendance zone can apply to attend the school.

On another front, Pasco County Schools offers a variety of enrichment programs before and after school for elementary-age children.

The district’s afterschool enrichment department also manages five other programs.

Two of those programs are funded through 21st Century Community Learning Centers federal grants. Those programs are the STAR Academy, for elementary students; and DELTA Academy, for middle school students, according to the district’s website. Both are free and are aimed at academic enrichment.
The STAR Academy programs are located at Gulf Highlands, Quail Hollow, and Rodney B. Cox elementary schools. The DELTA Academy programs are located at Gulf, Hudson, and Raymond B. Stewart middle schools.

Two afterschool fee-based programs also are being offered at some district schools.

Beyond the Bell is an afterschool program for middle school students that incorporates homework assistance, sports, music, dance, leadership development and community service activities, the district’s website says. It will be offered at Charles S. Rushe Middle School, in Land O’ Lakes and River Ridge Middle School in New Port Richey.

Explorations will be offered at Wiregrass Elementary School, in Wesley Chapel. The program operates Monday through Thursday, from 4:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. The program includes a variety of enrichment activities for children, such as coding and robotics, dance, Spanish, and sports drills and skills.

School’s back in session: Drive safely
As school bells ring in another academic year, motorists and pedestrians are reminded to be cautious to help keep everyone safe.

Here are some tips for drivers from AAA, North America’s largest motoring and leisure travel organization:

  • Observe the speed limit. School zone speed limits are purposefully set low. Children are unpredictable, and may have difficulty gauging the distance and speed of an approaching car.
  • Look for AAA School Safety Patrollers. They’re a sign you are approaching a school zone.
  • Stop completely at intersections with stop signs.
  • Always stop for school buses that are loading or unloading. Going around a stopped school bus is not only dangerous, it’s against the law.
  • Eliminate driver distraction. Keep your eyes on the road. Put your phone down, and keep an eye out for other drivers and pedestrians.
  • Plan Ahead. Build in extra time for congestion.

Published August 8, 2018

Pasco school district adopts new mental health plan

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The Pasco County School Board has approved a plan that allocates additional funding provided by the Florida Legislature to address youth mental health needs.

The Legislature’s decision to provide more money to address mental health issues came in response to the Valentine’s Day shooting spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent of Pasco County Schools

The Pasco school district was allocated slightly more than $1.7 million in mental health funding, according to Melissa Musselwhite, director of student support programs and services for the district.

Ninety percent of the funding must be spent to provide mental health services and 10 percent can be spent on prevention, she said.

So, the district has designated $1.4 million for services for at-risk youths and slightly more than $150,000 for prevention services. It also has allocated $123,000 for public charter schools.

The district’s plan calls for contracting with Central Florida Behavioral Network to help the district manage access to mental health services and help the district with data reporting.

It also will help the district with wraparound services for students.

“Many times we refer kids out and parents don’t go. We need to be sure that we’re diligent about tracking those kids and following up,” Musselwhite told the Pasco County School Board during a workshop on July 24.

The district’s plan, which required school board approval, was due to the state by Aug. 1.

Board members approved the plan at their evening meeting on July 24.

“There hasn’t be a comprehensive approach to referring kids out for services and support, and the follow-up and the wraparound with the family,” Musselwhite said, noting she would spend close to $100,000 in general fund money every year for a limited number of students.

By working with Central Behavioral Florida Network, the district will be expanding its reach to community resources that it didn’t know about before, Musselwhite said.

The mental health plan also includes:

  • Contracting with behavioral analysts to work one-on-one with students most at risk
  • Training in youth mental health first aid
  • Training in trauma-informed care
  • Training in Positive Behavior Intervention
  • Increased funding for alternatives to suspensions program
  • Additional adult assistance to help with students who are severely at risk for various reasons
  • Increased data collection to help the district make more informed decisions
  • Refining threat assessment procedures to be sure the law enforcement and district personnel are speaking the same language
  • Adding a high-performing school nurse, school psychologist and school social worker who will serve in a coaching/mentoring role for district staff

The district also plans to incorporate Social Emotional Learning across the curriculum, to help kids to learn how to effectively deal with anger, disappointment and difficult situations that arise.

Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent, is a proponent of the approach.

Social Emotional Learning helps kids “deal with the emotions of maybe not being the best player on the team, or not being able to play nine innings every game, or maybe having to sit on the bench for the good of the team,” Gadd said.

“Those things are upsetting to some folks, but how do you learn to handle that because those things that happen in life.

“SEL is trying to help teachers understand how to help kids to build foundational skills so they learn to manage those troublesome behaviors,” Gadd said.

Musselwhite said the district is looking for ways to embed SEL across the curriculum, “so that it’s not something stand-alone, and that it can be holistically done throughout the district, not in one subject or during your time with your school counselor.”

Gadd put it like this: “What we need is more SEL and less people with guns. If I had my choice, I would have rather have seen the Legislature fund a lot of SEL programs all around the state to help kids build those foundational skills so they never get to a point where they want to shoot people.”

Also, the district plans to add another Crisis Intervention Team.

It has four teams and will be adding a fifth.

“There was a huge increase, a 46 percent increase, in our crisis callouts for the crisis intervention team over the last year,” Musselwhite said. “It was pretty taxing last year on the four teams that we had.”

The teams are voluntary and are made up of student services team members and school counselors, who receive additional training to respond to crisis situations throughout the district.

Published August 1, 2018

Wilton Simpson reflects on Parkland in Dade City visit

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More than five months removed from being one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland is still a considerable talking point for legislators statewide.

At least that — and the state’s ensuing school safety actions — was at the forefront of discussion in State Sen. Wilton Simpson’s recent stop in Dade City.

Speaking before a standing-room-only crowd at The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce July monthly breakfast meeting, the Florida Senate majority leader talked extensively about the Valentine’s Day shooting, where a lone gunman killed 17 students and staff members, and injured 17 others.

State Sen. Wilton Simpson was the featured guest speaker at a Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce July 17 breakfast meeting at Florida Hospital Dade City. (Courtesy of Richard K. Riley)

In response to multiple questions from the audience, the state senator outlined several “failures” that may have prompted the school shooting — which have been reviewed and investigated through the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission.

Simpson blasted the Broward County school district’s diversion program called PROMISE, which offers alternatives to arrests for some misdemeanors.

That initiative, he said, “did not use law enforcement appropriately to deal with children with bad behavior and bad activities.”

As an example, Simpson noted the accused gunman and former student, Nikolas Cruz, was visited by police “around 30 to 40 times” over the course of several years prior to the Feb. 14 Parkland shooting massacre.

“You had a child who was clearly mentally deranged in a school system that was causing major problems — they didn’t trust him to bring a backpack to that school — and we allowed him, as a society, to stay in that school. We allowed that. We put everybody at risk because of this one person’s rights to be in that school. We gotta rethink that, probably,” said Simpson, who represents Hernando and Citrus counties, and parts of Pasco County.

Simpson bluntly called out Broward school leaders and local law enforcement for not appropriately vetting all tips related to the alleged gunman’s continually disturbing behavior.

“The sheriff should’ve been fired, the superintendent of schools should be fired, (and) those school board members probably will be replaced in this election,” Simpson said.

He added: “When you look at our responsibility as adults in society, we failed, on so many levels, the Parkland kids.”

Simpson also set the blame on a lack of parental responsibility in the case, and other similar instances that have occurred nationwide: “(Many) parents don’t do anything anymore, don’t raise their kids. Kids get home, they get on a video game; they’re on a video game all day — and that’s what’s raising our kids,” he said.

Simpson also discussed the state’s response efforts in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting.

He, along with incoming Senate President Bill Galvano, visited the Parkland school the day after the massacre.

Simpson told the audience: “We saw the destruction — a very tragic incident. We had to work through that issue and make sure that doesn’t happen again, right?”

Out of it came the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which enacts several measures, including requiring all Florida school districts to provide one or more safe-school officers at each school facility beginning in the 2018-2019 school year.

In addition to permitting a school guardian program, the $400 million spending package allocates nearly $100 million apiece for mental health assistance, and improving and hardening the physical security of school buildings.

The legislation also tightened gun laws.

The new minimum age to purchase a firearm is 21, up from 18, with a few exceptions. A three-day waiting period is now required for most gun purchases. And, it’s now illegal to sell or possess “bump stocks,” which allow semiautomatic rifles to fire faster.

Simpson defended the legislation on the whole: “I think what we did was come out with something that I think will be long-lasting. Not perfect, but substantially good public policy to protect our kids and our school system, so we’re very proud of that.

“We were really working 20 hours a day on this stuff. We had folks coming from all over the state — families of the victims, sheriffs all over the state, counselors from all over the state. We were working day and night, putting those together and vetting those things.”

Also in response to the Parkland school massacre, Simpson noted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has added a group of staffers whose sole job is to take and investigate complaints about possible suspicious or troubling behavior in schools, via a mobile app unit.

“A student now can go right into the system at FDLE and say, ‘This kid has got serious problems and is threatening gun violence or something in our schools,’” Simpson said.

The state lawmaker also touched on Florida’s economy during his speaking engagement.

He mentioned a handful of funding projects the Florida Legislature has tackled the last several years related to improving public education and transportation infrastructure, and also deepwater seaports and waterways — all of which he believes puts the state in an enviable position, long-term.

“Florida’s trajectory is much better than, I believe, the rest of the country, because of that economic investment that we’re making in our future,” he said.

Simpson also highlighted the state’s AAA bond rating, pointing out the state has paid off about $7 billion in debt over the last six years, while also cutting nearly that same figure in taxes during that period.

Published July 25, 2018

A trip to Ireland helps to inspire a 17-year-old in Land O’ Lakes

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Amanda Finn would be the first to admit she’s more than a wee bit shy.

But, the young woman from Land O’ Lakes said that a trip to Ireland last summer has helped to build her confidence, and now, the teenager is off on her second trip to the Emerald Isle.

She won scholarships both last year and this year for the summer leadership camp in Galway through her participation in the Florida Junior Rose of Tralee program.

Seventeen-year-old Amanda Finn has won two trips to Ireland, and hopes to make another trip to the Emerald Isle and then onto India in the spring. She said she also wants to raise money for a scholarship so another young woman can travel to Ireland next year. (B.C. Manion)

The program promotes Irish culture and involves an annual international competition in Ireland, where the Rose of Tralee is selected at a festival held at the town of Tralee in County Kerry.

This year, the Land O’ Lakes teenager was the first recipient of the Cara Loughran Memorial Scholarship, created in honor of the young woman who lost her life during the Valentine’s Day shooting spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The 17-year-old Finn said one of her goals during the coming year is to raise money to support a second scholarship, to provide the opportunity for another young woman to take part in the leadership camp in Ireland.

Finn, who is a member of the Irish Young American Leaders, said her trip to Ireland last year gave her a chance to explore the way of life in another country, and also helped her to become more outgoing.

The leadership camp offered the chance to learn about Irish history, sample Irish foods and dip into the country’s culture, she said.

During last year’s travels, she learned about international trade issues involving Ireland and America; she visited EA Games, a company where computer games are produced; and she spent some time doing volunteer work at a mental health home for adults.

The group also met the Mayor of Galway and spent time with some high school students who were preparing to compete at the International Science Fair in America.

They also visited a farm where they observed how a typical Irish family spends a Sunday afternoon. And, they listened to live music and tasted traditional Irish stew.

Other parts of the trip included hiking Croagh Patrick and riding bikes around the Aran Islands.

Not only was last year’s trip the young woman’s first international foray, it was the first time she boarded an airplane.

The airplane trip was just her first encounter with many unfamiliar experiences, but Finn said she wanted the chance to learn new things, and the trip fulfilled that desire.

She also had a chance to see some Irish countryside, while traveling down narrow roads.

“We went up some mountains. They were very narrow. We were in a gigantic bus. It was so scary,” she said. “We (passengers) were holding onto each other.”

Her host family provided many American foods, but they also made brown bread and scones every day, Finn said. She also noted that she drank lots of tea, but no coffee.

“So, she did get a little spoiled because for the first two weeks after she came back, she asked for scones every morning,” said Tina Finn, her mom.

She said the trip to Ireland was a wonderful experience for her daughter, in many ways.

“She learned to be on her own and to be assertive in asking for things.

“Since we’ve been doing college visits, we’ve been flying around. I don’t have to tell her what to do. She knows what to do,” Tina Finn said.

After returning from this trip, the teenager, who will be a senior in Pasco eSchool this fall, plans to be busy working on two fundraisers. One would support the trip to Ireland for another young woman.

The second is raise $3,000 to support a trip she wants to take back to Ireland, then to India, in the spring.

Initially, she would be part of a group learning first-aid skills in Ireland, then they would travel to India where they would work to help children living on the streets and in slums in India, and poor families, too.

“It’s to promote immediate and lasting change in their lives,” the young woman said, noting a portion of the time would be spent in a hospital, which would be excellent experience for her because she aspires to become a midwife.

To find out more about the Florida Rose of Tralee, visit the group’s website at FloridaRoseofTralee.com.

Want to help?
If you would like to help Amanda Finn raise money so she can take a trip to Ireland and India in the spring to help the underprivileged in India, or if you would like to help support a scholarship so another young woman can travel to Ireland next summer, please email Amanda Finn at

Published July 18, 2018

Training underway for Pasco school safety guards

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Bang. Bang. Bang.

The echoing sound of simulated rounds of ammunition permeate throughout Rushe Middle School in Land O’ Lakes on a recent late June afternoon.

One by one, school safety guard trainees, with 9mm pistols drawn, carefully and methodically traverse stairwells and hallways, checking classrooms, searching to take out a fake assailant armed with an AR-15.

Safety guard training began in June, with a goal of having the guards prepared for duties by August. (Kevin Weiss)

As each active scenario unfolds, Pasco County Sheriff’s Office instructors, such as Sgt. Christopher Squitieri, bark out directives: “Get going, gotta get going! …Know your terrain, where you’re trying to search! Where that gun goes, you go!”

Brice Hayes, a fit 26-year-old with a security background, was out of breath and sweating heavily after one such drill.

When the drill was over, Squitieri debriefed him on the effectiveness in clearing the school, and in assessing and responding to the threat.

Hayes said he pursued the school safety guard position to offer “a helping hand to kids that need help, whether it’s active shooters or a permanent threat in the schools.”

To him, the active shooter drills felt like the real thing, his mind racing throughout.

“You’ve gotta lot of things going through your head, ‘Where’s this guy at? Where’s this guy at? I gotta get to him and kill this guy,’” Hayes said. “There’s no ifs ands or buts about it, no questions — you’ve gotta take the threat out.”

The Pasco County School Board in May approved Superintendent Kurt Browning’s proposal to hire a director of safety and security, and 53 school safety guards, for the district’s elementary schools.

The school board’s action came in response to a 2018 bill passed by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott, in the aftermath of the Valentine’s Day shooting that left 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The guards must go through at least 132 hours of training that includes mastering various active shooter drills, where guards must search and take out a fake assailant, and render first aid to shooting victims.

The law requires all school districts to provide security at all schools beginning in the 2018-2019 school year. Pasco County Schools has School Resource Officers in its middle and high schools who will continue to be stationed there.

The school safety guards — which are a less expensive option — will be posted at the district’s elementary schools. The guards, who won’t have arrest powers, will make $20 per hour.

Safety guard training began in June, with a goal of having the guards prepared for duties by August.

Before they are stationed at schools, the guards must receive at least 132 hours of training with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

The main objective: respond and neutralize on-campus threats, particularly in the event of an active shooter.

“We pray to God this never happens, but we’re training for worst case,” said Pasco Sheriff’s Capt. Jared Hill, an ex-green beret who leads the agency’s emergency management division and oversees the guard training program.

Besides active shooter scenarios, guards have been instructed on defensive and less lethal tactics, weapon retention, first aid and CPR. They’ve also undergone diversity training, which was handled by the school district.

“Basically, we’re looking for someone’s that cognizant,” said Pasco Sheriff Sgt. Richard Jones, who helps supervise the guard training program. “We’re looking for proficiency on the range, we’re looking for proficiency in defensive tactics, and, the ability to save lives during the medical portion of the training.”

A Pasco County Sheriff’s deputy plays the role of an assailant armed with an AR-15 in an active shooter training scenario at Rushe Middle School. During the drills he fired simulated ammunition rounds, similar to a paintball or BB gun.

Jones said the guards’ biggest strides have come in its 10 days on the firing range.

“We’re shooting nonstop. We’re shooting upwards to 1,600 rounds, and they’ve improved quite a bit,” Jones said.

In addition to guards being stationed at all Pasco elementary schools, private and charter schools in the county have hired their own guards and have taken advantage of the sheriff’s office training.

Jones said 77 guards are undergoing training this summer with the law enforcement agency. Each has passed background checks, physical and psychological exams, and drug screenings.

Many, like Chuck Balderstone, have an extensive background in either military or law enforcement.

A 28-year veteran of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, Balderstone retired from the agency in 2013, as a lieutenant and commander of the agency’s vice and narcotics unit.

Becoming a school guard was “a no-brainer” for him.

“When you do something like law enforcement for 28 years, you kind of miss it,” Balderstone said. “I certainly didn’t want to be full (time), right back into being a cop again, but this gives me a chance to go back and work with the most important part of our community — our kids.”

Hiring armed guards in all schools, while unfortunate, is necessary in today’s society, Balderstone said.

Pasco Sheriff’s Sgt. Christopher Squitieri, left, debriefs school safety guard Chuck Balderstone following an active shooter drill scenario at Rushe Middle School in Land O’ Lakes.
Balderstone, a 28-year law enforcement veteran, is one of 53 armed guards Pasco County Schools has hired to be stationed at the district’s elementary schools beginning in the 2018-2019 school year.

“I think it’s crazy that its come to that point and we need this, but you know what, times are changing and the bottom line is, we do need it,” he said.

“I think the biggest thing is you never want to see your schools turn into some kind of stockade-type situation,” he said.

There needs to be a balance, he said: “Hey, we’ve got to keep this place safe, but we don’t want to scare these kids.”

The former sheriff’s lieutenant is confident the county’s schools will be in good hands when it comes to campus safety.

Balderstone said he knows many of the people he’s in class with and knows they have many years of experience.

“I know that a lot of us have had as much, if not more training, than a lot of these young deputies working out there now,” Balderstone said.

School safety
The Pasco County School Board in May approved Superintendent Kurt Browning’s proposal to hire a director of safety and security, and 53 school safety guards, for the district’s elementary schools, in addition to the School Resource Officers who work in the district’s middle and high schools. The school board’s action was in response to a 2018 bill that the Legislature passed and Gov. Rick Scott signed into law. That law requires all school districts to provide security at all schools beginning in the 2018-2019 school year.

Published July 4, 2018

Pasco Schools seeks to address students’ mental health needs

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Pasco County Schools is searching for additional ways to better serve its students’ mental health needs.

As part of that effort, the school system brought together student services staff and community mental health providers on May 4 for the district’s first-ever Mental Health Symposium. The seminar’s aim was to raise awareness of students’ mental health, build capacity of staff to respond, and increase collaboration between schools and mental health providers.

The daylong event featured a panel discussion on mental health, plus a series of breakout sessions, which covered such topics as eating disorders, anxiety, school-based violence prevention, trauma reduction and supporting recovery, non-suicidal self-injury, connecting mental health services, and so on.

Pasco County Schools’ first annual Mental Health Symposium featured a panel discussion and breakout sessions concerning eating disorders, anxiety, school-based violence prevention, trauma reduction and supporting recovery, non-suicidal self-injury, and connecting mental health services. (Kevin Weiss)

About 280 student services staff — school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, school nurses and dropout prevention teachers — participated in a morning or afternoon session, said Dave Chamberlin, Pasco Schools student services supervisor.

Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning kicked off the event with a brief introduction, during which he underscored the necessity of the district to provide quality education and to meet students’ mental health needs.

“We have got to be singularly focused on meeting those social and emotional needs of our kids,” Browning said, “before they can even learn to do mathematics or science.”

The symposium, which coincided with Mental Health Awareness Month, was at the district’s offices. Planning for it began in September.

In the aftermath of the Valentine’s Day school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that left 17 dead, Browning noted there’s been a renewed emphasis on mental health, and student and staff well-being.

Offering one possible solution of his own, Browning stated he’s a “huge proponent” of trauma-informed care, an organizational structure and treatment framework that involves understanding, recognizing and responding to the effects of all types of trauma.

“We’ve got to get out and educate our teachers — training our teachers and school-based staff about trauma informed care,” the superintendent said.

That suggestion, among many others, was presented during the hour-long panel discussion featuring community mental health providers, a student, and a parent with experience interacting with the system of care.

Access, awareness and availability of mental health services seem to be ongoing barriers, panelists suggested.

Helping younger children
There’s a great need for more pediatric psychiatrists and pediatric bed space in the county, said Craig Leech, program manager for the Land O’ Lakes-based Morton Plant North Bay Hospital Recovery Center.

Leech explained the recovery facility is only able to utilize 20 of its 25 pediatric beds at a time, and there’s oftentimes a waiting list of several days for children to get the mental services and treatment. “At any given day, we are full and do not have bed space. We are the only pediatric receiving facility in Pasco County,” he said.

Another panelist, Doug Leonardo, senior vice president of Chrysalis Health, said more flexibility is needed in providing mental health services for children.

He advocates conducting school behavioral health screenings to flag potential mental health problems with students at a younger age.

“We need to do a better job at getting upstream of these issues. We have universal screenings in schools for hearing and speech…I don’t know why we would not want to do the same things for mental health issues,” he said.

Leonardo, who’s helped provide mental health and substance abuse in Pasco County and other areas for more than 20 years, also supports creating more community partnerships among schools, law enforcement and mental health professionals.

He emphasized the importance of encouraging parents to be unafraid to seek help for their children who may suffer from mental illness.

“We can treat the kids but, if we don’t have the parents engaged and bought in and helped, it doesn’t really work, so we really need that family system to be involved,” the health professional said.

While health experts described some of community resources available to youth, many students are unaware of what’s available to them, Anclote High senior Emily Leopardi said.

Leopardi overcame a broken home and dysfunctional family life, and is on track to graduate high school and attend Hillsborough Community College in the fall. Growing up, she was fortunate to receive counseling and assistance from Youth and Family Alternatives Inc., and Baycare Behavioral Health.

“I would like to see more support in the schools that focus on mental health, and resources for students like myself who’s family life is challenging. …Without the help of these providers, students like myself can fall through the cracks,” she said.

Other panelists, including moderator Monica Rousseau, said reducing the stigma associated to mental health problems must remain a focus.

Rousseau, coordinator for the Pasco County Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP), referenced a study that more Americans are starting to understand mental illness is very much a chronic illness, like any other physical illness; yet more and more people are associating mental illness with violent tendencies, she said.

“We have shootings, we have a lot of big news stories that are really skewing the way people view people with mental illness, so it’s really important to be stomping out that stigma,” Rousseau said.

Some issues related to children’s mental health services might soon be mitigated with the recent passing of Senate Bill 7026 (“Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act”).

Besides its various school safety mandates, the new law creates mental health assistance allocation for every school district in Florida.

It also requires school districts to deliver a plan focused on delivering evidence-based mental health treatment, assessment, diagnose, intervention services and so on.

For school districts like Pasco, it marks a “big sea change,” Leonardo said.

“We’re going to start asking school districts to do things that I think, historically, they haven’t focused on doing. It probably happens sporadically, but now it’s being mandated,” Leonardo said.

With a solid foundation and framework, and an influx of funds from the new law, Leonardo noted the district and county as a whole is “in a really good position to make some meaningful changes.”

Published May 9, 2018

Pasco school district considers hiring security officers

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Budget restrictions could prompt Pasco County Schools to hire armed school security officers to work in the district’s 47 elementary schools.

The district is considering using that approach — instead of using certified law enforcement officers — because of finances, said Kurt Browning, superintendent of schools.

“The money that they’ve (the Florida Legislature) given us is not enough to go the full-blown SRO (School Resource Officer) program,” he said.

The district has School Resource Officers at its middle schools and high schools, but needs to add armed security at its elementary schools to comply with a new state law, which was passed in response to the slayings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The estimated cost for a single SRO during the first year would be $145,000, which includes a car and necessary equipment, Browning said.

“You’re talking a lot of money that we do not have,” the superintendent said.

A school security officer would be less expensive because the district would not provide a car, and he or she would be a district employee working the 180-day school calendar year.

Using school security officers also would require 132 hours of training and a psychological evaluation before the employee could be hired.

New Port Richey Police Chief Kim Bogart urged Pasco County School Board members to be very careful in making their security plans.

“This is a tough situation. I get it. I’ve been a cop a lot of years, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this, this mandate that we have,” Bogart said. “It is so important that we get it right.

“I lean toward the SRO system, because I want the best that we can possibly do, but I don’t know if we can afford it,” Bogart said.

He also told board members that the district must be sure its plan includes officers who can fill in when others are out.

“if you go with the security officer concept, if you have turnover, when is the next academy for that? Do you have people lined up, if there’s an absence at a school, that somebody else can fill in? The next academy could be three months away,” Bogart said.

He also noted that SROs working in New Port Richey cannot leave school campuses, unless they have someone there to relieve them.

Once the law was signed, Bogart said he made it a mandate: “The officers can’t leave to go for lunch. They have to bring their lunch. If they have to leave because of court, or they’re ill, or anything, there will be another officer that relieves that person.

“These are things I think you really need to be thinking about now because the clock is ticking,” Bogart said.

School board member Alison Crumbley told Bogart she appreciated his comments. “We are now in the security business,” she said.

Regardless of the option that the district pursues, it will be difficult to find enough qualified people to fill the slots, Browning said.

“To be frank, it’s going to be a concern for us to find 50 people to fill 50 slots between now and Aug. 1 that will meet the criteria,” the superintendent said.

Community meetings on school safety
Representatives from Pasco County Schools will give a presentation on school safety and will field questions from the public.

First meeting:

  • May 2 at 6 p.m., at River Ridge High School cafeteria, 11646 Town Center Road in New Port Richey.

Second meeting:

  • May 7 at 6 p.m., at Wiregrass Ranch High School cafeteria, 2909 Mansfield Blvd., in Wesley Chapel.

Published April 25, 2018