Change is in the air, as Pasco County Schools’ students start the 2023-2024 school year this week.
The inaugural crop of students will arrive at Angeline Academy of Innovation, to launch the district’s latest magnet program, at 8916 Angeline School Way, near the Suncoast Parkway and Ridge Road.
The school initially will serve students in grades six through 10, but will phase in 11th and 12th grades.
The school is opening in the emerging ‘city’ of Angeline, and will offer curriculum options and learning experiences aimed to help students prepare for an ever-evolving world of work.
The high school will offer career academies, as well as opportunities to merge some fields — enabling students to create a more personalized track.
The school will be near Moffitt Cancer Center’s Pasco County campus, which has been christened Speros FL. The Moffitt campus and surrounding areas in Angeline are expected to attract life science researchers and companies from around the globe.
In addition to opening the new Angeline magnet school, the district will be initiating a new school board policy relating to the use of wireless communications devices (WCDs) on campus.
In essence, the policy requires:
- Students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade keep their WCDs on silent mode and completely out of view for the entire school day;
- Students in grades six through eight keep their devices on silent mode and out of view throughout the school day, except for during the student’s lunch period, or when expressly authorized by a classroom teacher for a specific instructional activity;
- Students in grades nine through 12 keep their devices on silent mode and out of sight for the entire school day, except for during the student’s lunch period, in between class periods or as expressly authorized by a classroom teacher for a specific instructional activity.
As defined by the board’s policy, WCDs include peripheral devices such as headphones, earbuds and watches.
Another big change involves school meals.
The district will be implementing the Community Eligibility Provision for the 2023-2024 school year, which means that all breakfasts and lunches served to the public school district’s students will be free.
No action is required on the family’s part for the students to receive the free meals.
This school year also ushers in the beginning of better pay for the district’s non-administrative employees. Voters backed salary increases for those employees by adopting higher taxes to pay for them.
The voter-approved tax increase allows the district to impose up to a 1 mill increase for up to four years, to provide revenues for the improved pay.
Advocates of the new tax said increased salaries are needed to allow Pasco to compete with other school districts, which offer higher pay.
Another initiative being rolled out this year is a software tool called “Where’s the Bus?”
The tool uses an app that allows parents and schools to know where a bus is located.
Students use a card with a barcode to indicate when they get on the bus and when they get off of it, which lets parents know when they were picked up and dropped off.
Like school districts across the country, Pasco has had a hard time finding enough bus drivers to handle its routes.
The system has used a number of strategies to address the issue, including the change of school start and ending times, combining bus routes, and eliminating “courtesy” riding for secondary students living within 2 miles of school.
During the Pasco County School Board’s Aug. 1 meeting, Betsy Kuhn, assistant superintendent of support services, told board members: “The news that I have is better than anticipated and significantly better than we’ve had the past two years.”
As of Aug. 1, the district was down 41 driving positions, but had hired 18 relief drivers — leaving a net of 23 positions with no drivers.
“I have spoken to counterparts across the state and some are in significantly worse shape than what we’re in,” she added.
Kuhn expects the new software tool, “Where’s the Bus?” to enable parents and schools to keep track of where buses are, and to help the district track ridership.
The district is rolling out the software tool at one of its garages, initially, but will be spreading it out across the system gradually.
It wants to learn from the initial rollout and then expand its use across the district, Kuhn said.
Parents will be notified when the tool becomes available on buses at their school.
The ridership data will help the district to consolidate routes, which has been its most effective way of addressing the bus driver shortage.
The district now has 274 routes, as compared to 420 routes two years ago, Kuhn said.
Get to school safely
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office offers these tips to help bike riders, pedestrians and drivers stay safe, as the 2023-2024 school year begins:
- Those walking, driving or riding their bicycles should slow down and eliminate distractions, such as cellphones, when they are in school zones.
- Drivers need to know Florida’s school bus stop sign laws.
- Pedestrians and bicyclists should cross at crosswalks, where drivers expect pedestrians to cross. Wait for the crossing guard to indicate when you may pass.
- Bicyclists should dismount and walk their bikes through crosswalks.
- Follow the directions of a school crossing guard, traffic control officer, deputy or other public safety official present at the intersection.
Stay safe online
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office offers these pointers to help keep students safe online, as another school year begins:
- Parents and guardians should talk with students about safe and appropriate behavior online.
- Pay attention to what apps students are using. Ask the school’s resource officer for a list of apps that can exploit children.
- Consider downloading apps your children are using, to make yourself aware of any potential dangers.
- Consider employing parental controls, if available.
- Advise your student not to talk to, or add people, in social media apps if they’ve never met them.
It’s important to have open conversations about potential online dangers to help keep students safe.
Published August 09, 2023
