The Laker/Lutz News

Scotland Yards Golf Club

How Pasco Schools is navigating through COVID-19

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Heading up one of Florida’s largest school districts is certainly a tall task on its own merit — let alone when a world-altering pandemic shocks the system from March onward.

So, it’s understandable if Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning tries to bring some levity to the whole situation.

His humor showed through at a speaking engagement before the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce Oct. 20 breakfast meeting.

Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning was guest speaker at the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting last month at Scotland Yards Golf Club. (File)

“I always look for positive things. I think, ‘You know, I could be the supervisor of elections…’,” quipped Browning, before a crowd of dozens at the Scotland Yards Golf Club in Dade City.

Booming laughter, of course, ensued.

Browning held the Pasco County Supervisor of Elections position for 26 years, from 1980 to 2006.

He later joked and shared an anecdote how he once heard current Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley discuss his various responsibilities and lengthy work schedule.

Browning retorted to Corley: “I don’t ever want to you hear you talk about how hard you work, until you run a school district. You don’t know what hard work is, until you run a school system.”

More seriously, though, Browning told the crowd that the past six months or so have unquestionably been a stressful period for administrators, teachers, parents and students alike. “We have had a rough go,” he said.

The superintendent shared his personal experience of contracting the coronavirus in June.
The moment he received word of his positive COVID-19 test, Browning said, “it was all downhill from there.
“Probably the sickest I’ve ever been, sickest I’ve ever been in my life,” said Browning, noting he still feels some lingering fatigue even today.

“It was bad. It was bad, bad, bad. …I was too sick to even worry about what was going on in the office,” the superintendent said.

He discussed the hurdles that the district overcame to get teachers and students either back in the classroom or learning virtually.

The district gave families three learning options for the 2020-2021 school year:

  • Traditional brick-and-mortar campuses
  • Pasco eSchool virtual education program
  • mySchool Online, a hybrid virtual learning model where students follow a standard school schedule and bell times

One of the most challenging aspects of the first quarter has been the continuous indecisiveness by parents on which learning model to use for their child, he said.

Parents initially choosing a virtual model would flip back to traditional, and vice versa, mainly based on the latest news reports of whether COVID-19 cases were spiking or slowing.

“As we got closer to school, I mean people were just ping-ponging back and forth,” Browning said.

He said he had to plead with parents: “Don’t do that. Just pick a model and stick with it, because it’s not good for your student to keep going back and forth, because they’re going to lose instruction.”

Parent indecisiveness has “settled down a little bit,” but some parents are still “ping-ponging.”

The superintendent also noted that parents who intend to send kids back to brick-and-mortar campuses next semester need to inform his office soon, as preparations are already underway. A hard date for those second semester decisions will be set relatively soon.

“Keep in mind, it’s not as simple as moving kids into a classroom,” said Browning, the changes affect teachers and scheduling, too.

Other school district challenges amid COVID-19
Browning also touched on other challenges brought about by the start the pandemic, such as creating drive-thru sites to provide free meals for needy families.

The district served over 1 million meals, from March through the beginning of the school year in August.

Pasco Schools distributed over 1 million meals to needy families from March through the beginning of the school year in August, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of families who needed help increased drastically, Browning said, particularly among the district’s 36 Title 1 schools — campuses with large concentrations of low-income students.

Many of those students rely on school-provided breakfast and lunch, as oftentimes it’s their only meals of the day, “so it’s important we get the food to them,” Browning said.

The superintendent added the 1 million-plus meal figure is “much higher than we’ve ever served meals before, and I think a lot of that was due to folks having lost jobs, not being able to provide food for their kids.”

And, as students moved to remote learning, technology became a big challenge.

The district issued about 20,000 laptops and iPads to students for virtual learning purposes.

The school district primarily uses Apple equipment, but district leadership decided to distribute Dell laptops — in order to distribute more laptops. The district could buy three Dell laptops for the cost of one Apple laptop, Browning explained.

“We learned very quickly, if we’re going to get where we need to be with devices for our kids, we’re kind of switching over to Dell devices,” Browning said. “They’re not as sturdy as an Apple, but if a kid drops a Dell and breaks it, throw it in the garbage and buy another one. With an Apple, you have to fix it, and the investment’s too great to do that with.”

Getting remote internet access to students was another necessity and challenge — particularly at the end of last school year.

“You know how many kids in 2020 do not have internet service? A lot,” Browning said.

To solve the problem, the district equipped school buses with hotspots and set them up in school parking lots in remote areas with no internet service, such as Crystal Springs, Lacoochee and Shady Hills.

The concept allowed families to park their cars into school lots for several hours and have children complete necessary schoolwork from there.

“We bought hotspots by the hundreds,” Browning said.

New technical high school underway
Browning went on to discuss the district’s forthcoming technical high school — Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation, being built at 9100 Curley Road in Wesley Chapel.

The Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation is being built at 9100 Curley Road in Wesley Chapel. The 184,000-square-foot technical school is expected to serve 1,000 students and is scheduled to open for the 2022-2023 school year. The school will prepare students for high-salary, high-skill careers in high-demand areas, such as digital multimedia, engineering and robotics, biomedical sciences, building construction, and cyber security, according to district officials.

The 184,000-square-foot technical school is expected to serve 1,000 students and is scheduled to open for the 2022-2023 school year.

The school will prepare students for high-salary, high-skill careers in high-demand areas, such as digital multimedia, engineering and robotics, biomedical sciences, building construction, and cyber security, according to district officials.

A groundbreaking ceremony was celebrated in early September.

Browning believes it’ll be a win for the school district, underscoring the importance of technical and vocational training programs, as well as dual-enrollment opportunities.

“We want our kids to have options, we want our kids to be successful,” said Browning. “We want them to be exposed to diesel mechanics. You know what a good diesel mechanic is paid? You know what a great welder gets paid? Sometimes six figures.”

The school, Browning said, is being constructed “with a lot of non-fixed walls” to allow for ever-changing learning programs that may require more or less space in the future.

“It’s going to be a very functional facility for our kids, and I believe East Pasco deserves that and needs that for our kids,” Browning said.

Kirkland Ranch will primarily pull students from Pasco, Zephyrhills, Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch high schools, but also will be available to “any other kid” from the county that wants to take advantage, Browning said.

Published November 11, 2020

Financial expert presents mixed U.S. economic outlook

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One Tampa-based financial expert sees a positive economic outlook for 2018, yet also remains cautious about decades ahead.

John Largent, chief investment strategist at Members Trust Company, was the featured speaker at a Dec. 13 business-networking event hosted by the San Antonio Federal Credit Union.

He offered an encouraging assessment of the current U.S. economy.

John Largent was the featured guest speaker at a Dec. 13 networking event presented by the San Antonio Federal Credit Union. Largent is the chief investment strategist at Members Trust Company in Tampa. (Courtesy of Members Trust Company)

“We’re at a stock market all-time high,” Largent told an audience of small business owners at the Scotland Yards Golf Club.

“Yields are low. Housing prices are back. All those great things like that are going on,” Largent said.

But, he cautioned that how the foreign-owned U.S. debt market is managed is something “to worry about a little bit.”

Last week, the Federal Reserve (Fed) raised interest rates by 0.25 percent, the third increase in 2017.

The decision to raise interest rates, raising the cost of borrowing, takes the Fed farther away from the ultra-low rates it put in place during the financial crisis to boost economic activity.

Even so, Largent explained the Fed’s policy to keep “artificially low” interest rates for too long — combined with negative interest rates in several European countries — could wreak havoc sometime over the next several decades.

“There will be consequences,” said Largent, who’s been an active panelist for Morningstar Advisor, Index Universe, and S&P Dow Jones Indices.

“Hopefully they won’t be as bad as ‘07 and ‘08 with the housing deal, because (investment banks) are not leveraged in this…but, our governments are really, really leveraged.”

Largent began his career on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. He has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry and is past president of Chartered Financial Analyst Tampa Bay.

Since joining Members Trust Company in 2004, his team has grown managed assets from $60 million to over $2 billion.

Besides the global economy, Largent also discussed the recently finalized “Tax Cut and Jobs Act.”

The Republican plan is the largest one-time reduction in the corporate tax rate in American history — from 36 percent down to 21 percent. The bill also lowers taxes for the vast majority of Americans and small business owners — at least until the cuts expire after eight years.

Largent said the deal generally “could be a positive thing for corporations, to make it a little more competitive.”

He added the movement to 21 percent “is not a big deal,” as the Effective Tax Rate of all companies in the United States “is about 22 percent.”

“If you’re at a 36 percent tax bracket, you’ve got a windfall. However, if you’re at 15 (percent), you may be at (21) percent, and that’s not so good,” Largent explained.

He does, however, anticipate the tax plan yielding “unintended consequences” in due time.

“The law of unintended consequences is something that is absolutely very real when you move from 36 (percent) to 21 (percent),” Largent said, “and you did it so fast that you didn’t think of the consequences of this thing…”

The speaker also briefly touched on the bitcoin phenomenon that’s created a global stir.

Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital currency, created and held electronically.

He suggested it’s not really something U.S. consumers should be concerned with, even though it debuted on the world’s largest futures exchange.

“It’s a massive marketing success story,” Largent. “It’s one of the best marketing success stories ever.”

While fascinated by the cryptocurrency, Largent noted bitcoin doesn’t have a value; rather it’s just a medium of exchange.

“It’s kind of fun; that’s about it,” Largent said.

Published December 20, 2017

Dwindling ranks of golfers handicap golf courses

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Golf courses are in trouble, and Florida — which boasts more golf courses than any other state in the nation — could be hit the hardest.

The latest to experience trouble is Scotland Yards Golf Club on U.S. 301 in Dade City. The bank that holds the mortgage on the course, First National Bank of Pasco, started foreclosure proceedings against the 100-acre course last month. However, course owner David Rinaldo says those problems look worse than they actually are.

Golf courses are a favorite pastime of many older players, but have not really attracted the younger generation. For golfers like Richard Buddy of Wesley Chapel, it might be harder to find golf courses in the future. (Courtesy of Ron Ludwin)
Golf courses are a favorite pastime of many older players, but have not really attracted the younger generation. For golfers like Richard Buddy of Wesley Chapel, it might be harder to find golf courses in the future.
(Courtesy of Ron Ludwin)

“The course has financial issues like every golf course in America,” Rinaldo told The Laker/Lutz News in an email. “But it is not shutting down.”

Golf courses are suffering financially in different parts of the country, especially Florida, as interest in the sport wanes from its peak over the last few decades. Last year, 160 golf courses shut down in the nation, and 300 have closed in the last few years, the National Golf Foundation reported, according to published reports.

Florida has more than 1,200 courses, enough to have one course for every 16,000 people. That’s just too many for the market to sustain, one golf pro says, especially with other recreational activities that may be less time consuming and less expensive competing against the game.

“Golf was in its heyday 20 or 30 years ago, when that was the thing to do, both socially and sports wise,” said Laura Sanderson, a pro at Meadow Oaks Golf & Country Club in Hudson. “Everyone built a bunch of golf courses because, back then, we could keep them full. But now people’s interests have changed, especially the younger generation. People just have better things to do with their time and money.”

The summer season hasn’t helped, when many seasonal residents are in their northern homes, and those remaining finding it too hot to hit the links. Even Meadow Oaks, which averages 275 golfers a day during the peak season, is seeing just a little more than 100 during the summer months.

But getting through those times means knowing that it’s coming, and being ready for it. Quail Hollow Golf Course in Wesley Chapel, for example, has focused on attracting a lot of non-golf events like motorcycle shows and big band performances, Sanderson said.

“You just have to take care of where you’re at,” said Nic Kalojiannis, one of the people in the ownership group that leases and manages Heritage Harbor Golf and Country Club in Lutz. “We do a lot of weddings, sweet 16s, and golf tournaments. It’s a process as a whole that you need to have, just to try and get you through tough seasonal times. Like this year, it’s rained pretty much all day every day, it seems like.”

These events give exposure to the golf course, which is owned by the Heritage Harbor Community Development District.

“We’re out here on Lutz Lake Fern Road off of North Dale Mabry, and we have a beautiful sign and the upkeep is really nice,” Kalojiannis said. “But the clubhouse was built in the back, kind of off the beaten path. We always have people coming in to our events telling us they didn’t even know we were back here.”

Other courses, however, would likely struggle no matter what they tried to do. And all of that goes back to how golf courses were originally financed.

Mortgages — typically in the millions of dollars — were structured in a way that a course could pay its note and still make a profit by charging $70 a round, for example.

“People don’t have that kind of excess money anymore, or if they do, they are not really willing to put it toward golf,” Sanderson said.

Instead, many have to cut fees, and then find ways to save expenses. More often than not, golf courses choose to skimp on maintenance — which could drive away even more golfers, and make their financial situation worse.

Even after Plantation Palms Golf Club in Land O’ Lakes shut down in May, maintenance crews kept the course in mostly good shape. However, when the workers stopped coming, the course fell into disrepair.

“After a matter of a couple months of that, it becomes completely unplayable,” Sanderson said. “You’ll lose the greens, and it’s not that you can just go back and mow it. You’ll have to replace it, and that could cost you $1 million right there.”

Plantation Palms was put up for sale last month for $1.2 million, considerably down from the $2.2 million MJS Golf Club LLC paid for it in 2011.

Plantation Palms was one of many communities in the region, and in the country, anchored by golf courses. But that’s not happening anymore. Some homeowners in Plantation Palms complained about the loss of home value, and many golf course designers have turned to Europe and Asia to build new courses, not finding any market in the United States.

But is golf fighting for its life? Sanderson doesn’t think so. It’s more about “righting the ship.”

“Golf is still strong, we just have too much product out there, too many courses out there,” she said. “We definitely need to grow the industry from the standpoint of the younger generation, but we’re just shaking out some of the excess courses. The ones that survive are going to end up being good in the long run.”

Published September 3, 2014

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