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Board To Discuss Boundaries

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By RONNIE BLAIR rblair@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 1, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - The Pasco County School Board will get its first look Tuesday at proposed attendance boundaries for two new schools opening in August.

The board also will discuss fixing a boundary oddity from the past.

Both new schools are expected to ease crowding at existing schools. Anclote High School, under construction next to Smith Middle School in Holiday, will draw students from Mitchell High and Gulf High.

Watergrass Elementary, being built in the Watergrass development off Curley Road in Wesley Chapel, will draw its entire student body from Wesley Chapel Elementary.

Parents and other residents with concerns about the boundary changes will get a chance to address the board Tuesday. Boundary maps can be viewed on the school district's Web site at www.pasco.k12.fl.us.

On occasion in the past, entire neighborhoods have protested attendance boundary changes, but Assistant Superintendent Ray Gadd said he's not aware of any organized opposition to these boundaries.

"We're optimistic that the community overall is happy, and things have gone smoothly," Gadd said.

It's possible, though, there are individuals unhappy with parts of the plan and will come to address the board, he said.

In a boundary change with a lot less impact, the board also will consider a proposal to rezone Saddle Ridge Road and Thoroughbred Lane in New Port Richey in an effort to correct a boundary glitch discovered about a year ago.

Just two students live in the area, which is zoned for Cypress Elementary, River Ridge Middle and River Ridge High. All three of those schools are to the east of Saddle Ridge Road and therein lies the problem.
Saddle Ridge Road and Thoroughbred Lane can be exited only to the west at Osceola Drive, which at that point is zoned for Schrader Elementary, Bayonet Point Middle and Ridgewood High.

The two students are both in high school. One is a junior who attends Mitchell High School under school choice.

The other student entered high school last year and wanted to attend Ridgewood High. That's when the school district discovered the unusual boundary situation, Chris Williams, the district's planning director, said in an e-mail.

District officials told the student to attend Ridgewood High under the choice plan until the boundary could be fixed, Williams said.

The school board will hold a second public hearing and final vote on all of the boundaries Feb. 17.

Committees began working in October on the boundary proposals for Anclote High and Watergrass Elementary. The committees included district staff, principals and parents.

Maps with the proposed boundaries were sent home to parents just before the winter break, and information meetings for parents were held last month.

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

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