Pasco County Schools plans to send 20 buses to Southwest Florida, to help in recovery efforts from Hurricane Ian.
Superintendent Kurt Browning asked the school board to surplus some of the district’s older buses, in order to give them to districts in need.
The Pasco County School Board unanimously approved that action, during its Oct. 4 meeting.
The superintendent also informed the board that more help will be provided to districts affected by Ian, but first, more information is required on what’s needed and where.
“There’s a lot of chatter out there: ‘What do we need to do? What do we need to do? We need to do something, we need to do something,’” Browning said. “We are still trying to contact superintendents in Southwest Florida, to find out specifically, ‘What are those needs?’
“As you’ve heard the news, there are still some districts that are not open and do not know when they will reopen,” Browning said.
“The last thing that we want to do, as a district, is get together a lot of supplies and (A), not know exactly what they need; and then (B), expect them to have some place to house and keep supplies dry and mold-free,” the superintendent said.
“I just want the board to know that we are working on a plan, but we’re going to work through the superintendent’s association, obviously working with the FDOE (Florida Department of Education) and the individual superintendents in those impacted districts.
“We are doing something, but we’re going to do it with a well thought-out plan, at the appropriate time, and for the needs that are actually needing to be met.”
Published October 12, 2022
