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Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act

Pasco schools adopt tentative budget

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The Pasco County School Board has adopted a tentative budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, with a final public hearing set for Sept. 18.

The proposed general fund budget for 2018-2019 is $630,860,337. That’s a $15.2 million increase over last year’s general fund, which represents roughly a 2.47 percent increase.

The capital projects funds in the budget for 2018-2019 total $244,516,610, which reflects an increase of $31.5 million or 14.78 percent above the 2017-2018 budget.

Capital Projects Funds are used to account for expenditures on acquisition or construction of major capital facilities and improvements to existing facilities. The funds also are used for the maintenance of approximately 2,400 buildings across the district, to purchase land and to pay for equipment, technology equipment, buses and vehicles.

Under the proposed rate, the owner of a $125,000 home, after deducting the $25,000 homestead exemption, would pay $627.90 in school taxes — a decrease of $28.60 from last year.

The state’s basic student allocation for the 2018-2019 school year is $4,204.42. That’s 47 cents more per student than last year. But, since the state applies a cost of living adjustment, Pasco’s base student allocation for the coming year is $4,144.72.

Here are some big-picture highlights of the proposed budget:

  • Teaching makes up 61.78 percent of the district’s expenditures
  • Teaching combined with other school-level programs, including transportation, media, counseling, psychological services, school administration, capital outlay, community services, and operations and maintenance, makes up 92.38 percent of the operating budget
  • Curriculum development and staff training make up 3.26 percent of the operating budget.
  • Human resources, finance, purchasing, warehouse, data processing and mail services
    make up 4.36 percent of the operating budget.

While the state provides funding for schools, it also dictates how much of that money is spent.

For instance, during the 2018 session, the Florida Legislature passed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which addresses gun violence on school campuses and promotes school safety. The bill requires armed security guards at every school. Each of those officers is required to undergo training, a background check, drug screening and psychological evaluation.

Pasco already has School Resource Officers at its middle schools and high schools, and is adding school security safety guards at its elementary schools this year.

The public safety act also requires the development of a mental health assistance plan, which will establish or expand school-based mental health care, through assessment, diagnosis, intervention and treatment.

The Safe Schools allocation of $3,725,606 will be used for school resource officers, school safety guards, traffic control and year-end security.

The Mental Health allocation of $1,721,460 will be used to expand school-based mental health
care.

In another area, the district must provide an additional hour of intensive reading beyond the normal school day, for the entire year, at 10 schools that were identified as low-performing schools.

The district also intends to spend its Digital Classrooms allocation of $1,419,851 for computers, iPads and digital devices to support the district’s classrooms.

The budget also includes $80,459,730 for debt service, which is an increase of $5.9 million or nearly 8 percent higher than 2017. The district must repay debt service before making other expenditures.

The budget also lists scores of capital projects, including several in central and east Pasco.

They include:

  • Major renovation/remodeling of Land O’ Lakes High School, Woodland Elementary School and Zephyrhills High School
  • Construction of the new Cypress Creek Middle School
  • Design of a kindergarten through eighth grade school at Starkey Ranch
  • Cafeteria renovations at several schools, including Denham Oaks Elementary, Chester W. Taylor Elementary and Lacoochee Elementary
  • Replacement/repairs of heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems at Centennial Elementary and Sand Pine Elementary
  • Site improvements at Wendell Krinn Technical High School, a new technical high school that is opening this fall in the former Ridgewood High School, which was closed and refurbished, in New Port Richey

Published August 15, 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

Pasco schools adopt new safety measures

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An initiative to place school safety guards into Pasco County’s elementary schools attracted 125 applicants for 53 job slots.

Training for the safety guards is scheduled to begin in June, with a goal of having the guards prepared for duties by August. Some applicants were retired law enforcement officers.

“We’re excited about the level of interest and the caliber of people who are interested,” said Betsy Kuhn, assistant superintendent for support services with Pasco County Schools.

Betsy Kuhn, assistant superintendent for support services at Pasco County Schools, standing, and Pasco County Superintendent Kurt Browning, sitting to the right, led discussion on school safety at Wiregrass High School. (Kathy Steele)

The update on hiring school safety guards was part of a broader presentation on school safety, hosted by the Pasco County Schools public school district on May 7, at the Wiregrass High School cafeteria.

About 100 people attended, including parents, teachers, school board members and school bus drivers.

The presentation highlighted the school district’s response to a new state law requiring elementary schools to have armed security. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act is a reaction to the Valentine’s Day school shooting in Parkland when 17 people were killed.

Lawmakers approved some financial assistance for boosting school safety, and for mental health care. But, school officials said funding is inadequate, and won’t pay to place School Resource Officers, who are certified law enforcement officers, at every school.

The school district now has SROs at its middle and high schools. The security guards that will provide protection at elementary schools are a less-expensive option.

Before being stationed at schools, the guards will go through 132 hours of training with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

Other topics discussed at the public meeting included the school district’s update to its Active Threat Plan; the highlights of the state’s new restriction on firearms; and mental health care services.

Making campuses safer
The school district began a review of its existing school safety plan in January. The updated version was implemented in August.

Priorities are on safety, prevention efforts and working collaboratively with the sheriff’s office.

An assessment of the district’s 90 facilities is underway. The final report will look at additional ways to eliminate vulnerabilities on campuses, Kuhn said.

“We want to make sure we remain vigilant as we get farther away from Parkland,” she said. “We’re looking at how we balance our facilities so they are welcoming to the community, but safe.”

That isn’t a balance everyone supported.

One woman during public comment said, “I don’t want my school open to the community. I want it closed.”

About a dozen people spoke during public comment. They talked about their fears, and those of their children or students. They also spoke about how the school district can improve safety, and do better at communicating to parents and school employees.

Rayomond Chinoy has two children who will attend high school next year. He has met privately with school officials about his concerns.

One issue he raised at the public meeting is how school officials would stop potential shooters from entering school buildings, once they have been identified as threats. He also worries about safety on school field trips.

“I don’t think they’ve figured out a balance yet,” said Chinoy, speaking after the meeting. “I want to know this is how we’re going to fix it. This is where the money is coming from.”

Some also wanted greater emphasis on prevention efforts, and mental health support.

Browning said, “This district works incredibly hard to identify those kids who need extra support.”

But, funding is an issue.

And, regarding the issue of identifying potential active shooters, Browning said, “I don’t know of anyone who is a clairvoyant who knows what’s in the head of every kid.”

Lt. Troy Ferguson, with the sheriff’s office, talked about law enforcement’s role in school safety.

“It’s a sad commentary on society that we have to have these types of meetings,” he said.

But, the sheriff’s office monitors threats on a daily basis.

Recently, a teenager who moved from Pasco to Ohio made a threat on social media. Ferguson said he was arrested in Ohio.

And, even if it means waking parents at 2 a.m., to ask about a tweet or Facebook post by their child, Ferguson said deputies will do what’s necessary for safety.

Active shooter situations generally last 6 minutes to 12 minutes, he said.

In those moments, response plans rely on a “mitigation strategy not a prevention strategy,” Ferguson said.

The goals are self-evacuation; communications and alerts for school lockdown and barricading classrooms; concealment; and, as a last resort, countering the attacker.
“It’s literally about defending your life and the life of a child, looking for a place to take refuge,” Ferguson said.

The sheriff’s office, similar to the school district, wants to strike a balance.

“We want to be inviting to the community,” said Ferguson. “We don’t want to think about building moats and putting in big dragons, just yet.”

There were divisions among those at the meeting on whether to arm school employees, including teachers, with firearms.

Browning said state lawmakers want SROs at every school, but they didn’t provide funding for that.

“We can’t afford true SROs on all of our campuses,” he said. But, he added, “I’m not ready to arm district personnel. I’m just not ready to do that.”

Browning said deputies responding to active shooters would have trouble distinguishing between school employees and the shooter.

One woman suggested that district personnel could wear badges or special vests, if they were armed.

Some parents spoke about building modifications that were needed. For example, they said many schools have doors with glass windows that can be broken for easy access into classrooms.

Once the campus assessment is done, Browning said the district will know more about additional expenses needed to boost safety measures. The next step would be to identify financial resources, which might involve local fundraising activities.

“This was an insightful evening,” Browning said. “We’re still working through the plan. We can do a better job of communicating. The conversation does not stop here.”

Published May 16, 2018