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School's Delay Not A Surprise

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By RONNIE BLAIR

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Construction has been delayed on an elementary school planned for the Connerton development off U.S. 41.

The school, expected to draw students from Sanders Memorial Elementary, was supposed to open in August, but that date has been moved back to January 2010, Assistant Superintendent Ray Gadd said.
Gadd said a combination of factors created the delay in getting work started on what was already a tight school-construction plan.

"We were always being optimistic that we could open in '09," Gadd said.

Geotechnical engineering work showed that the location for the school building wasn't feasible, so the district had to redesign how the school would fit on the site, Gadd said.

In addition, the developers of Connerton are responsible for building the road that would lead to the school. Work on the road has been delayed but is expected to start in the next few weeks, Gadd said.

Connerton's plans call for 8,540 residential units.

A mid-year opening for a school is nothing new for the Pasco County School District. In recent years, such schools as Wiregrass Ranch High, Trinity Oaks Elementary, Gulf Highlands Elementary and New River Elementary opened after the school year had begun.

The district had hoped to get away from mid-year openings, though.

"We have certainly had that as a goal," Gadd said. "We could just stall and open the following year, but we don't want to stall because we want to build as fast as we can."
Gadd said the district is fearful it could face higher prices if construction is delayed much longer.

Once the Connerton school opens, the district plans to move the student population from Sanders Memorial Elementary to Connerton while Sanders undergoes a massive renovation.

The renovation, expected to take about two years, will involve demolishing most of the buildings on the Sanders campus and replacing them with essentially a new school.

When the renovation is complete, attendance boundaries would be redrawn and some of the students would move back to Sanders.

The district had projected that Sanders, a 60-year-old school, would grow to about 1,000 students this school year. Instead, the school has seen a decline in enrollment. As of a district head count last week, Sanders reported 768 students, down from 841 at the same point last year.

Growth is down throughout the school district and some of the Sanders decline could be because more people are moving out of the area and fewer are moving in, said Chris Williams, the school district's planning director.

In addition, Williams said, some Sanders students transferred to Imagine Charter School at Land O' Lakes, which opened in August.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.

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