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Learning Coalition 'Unified'

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By RONNIE BLAIR

rblair@tampatrib.com

Published: November 22, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - The Pasco-Hernando Early Learning Coalition released an upbeat annual report Friday in which the chairwoman said 2007-08 came to an end with a new executive director providing strong leadership and the coalition board "unified."

That's a stark contrast to the tense relationships that emerged in the first two years after Pasco and Hernando counties merged their early learning coalitions in 2005.

"Our board of directors has rallied around our staff, developed a long-term strategic plan and proudly speaks with one voice," chairwoman Lisa Hammond wrote in an introductory letter to the report that reviews the 2007-08 fiscal year.

The coalition's responsibilities include the voluntary prekindergarten program in the two counties and a school readiness program for needy families.

The coalition, once described as dysfunctional by Pasco County School Board members, is these days a "lean and purpose driven organization that is highly responsive to the needs of children," Hammond wrote.

The counties had separate coalitions until the 2005 merger. Soon after they joined forces, disputes surfaced between some Pasco and Hernando members, especially after the newly formed board voted to discontinue funding for a Pasco program that served 300 needy children.

The coalition also raised the ire of the Pasco County School Board, which complained that the coalition wasn't meeting the needs of Pasco children. Two school board members at one point suggested seeking legislative help in getting the merger reversed.

The relationship between the school district and the early learning coalition is much improved these days, said Sandy Show, a supervisor of prekindergarten services for the school district.

"They have a new executive director and he has been very positive," Show said. "He has made a commitment of coming to the school board and meeting with us and meeting with the superintendent."

Those efforts have gone a long way toward "mending bridges," Show said.

The coalition's executive director, James Farrelly, was hired in January. In her letter in the annual report, Hammond described Farrelly as "a leader with a wealth of education experience, a voice for children and consummate consensus building skills."

The coalition's previous executive director resigned in May 2007 rather than be fired after the coalition's personnel committee found deficiencies in the management of personnel, contracts and finances.

The early learning coalition's annual report says 3,400 Pasco children enrolled in voluntary prekindergarten in 2007-08, an increase of 889 from the year before. The voluntary prekindergarten program was created under a constitutional amendment passed in 2002 and provides free prekindergarten to any eligible child whose parents request it.

Also, 3,230 Pasco children were served by the school readiness program, which provides subsidized child care for working poor families. That was 71 more children than in 2006-07.

At the end of the 2007-08 year, 324 Pasco children were on the waiting list for school readiness.

In Hernando, 1,150 children enrolled in voluntary prekindergarten in 2007-08. That's 135 more than the year before.

In addition, 1,171 Hernando children were in the school readiness program, which was down 126 from the previous year. There were 356 Hernando children on the readiness waiting list.

The coalition spent $14.8 million in 2007-08 on school readiness and $10.8 million on the voluntary prekindergarten program.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218.

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