Rolling brownouts cut power to Pasco schools

The first day back from winter break was a chilly one in some Pasco County schools.

Rolling brownouts by power companies caused 11 schools to experience power outages at some point Monday morning, a day that started with temperatures in the 20s.

By about 10:30 a.m., power had been restored to all the schools, said Summer Romagnoli, a spokeswoman for the district.

Some Hillsborough County schools, including Yates, Claywell, MacFarlane Park and Gibsonton elementary schools, also experienced power outages, said Linda Cobbe, a spokeswoman for the Hillsborough school district.

"This is an unusual time," Cobbe said of the record-long cool temperatures, "so we're going to have some maintenance issues.''

A faulty breaker at Yates Elementary in Brandon was to blame for the loss of power in one classroom, she said, and it was repaired. Power was restored, or in the process of being restored, at the other schools as well, Cobbe said.

TECO Energy provides power to Hillsborough district schools and "we're a priority," she added.
Hillsborough teachers were asked to move students from frigid classrooms to warmer parts of the building, Cobbe said.

In some cases, students also were moved temporarily to warmer areas in the Pasco schools that experienced outages, especially students who were in portable classrooms, Romagnoli said.

At Seven Springs Middle in New Port Richey, some students contacted their parents to come pick them up, Principal David Salerno said. By 10 a.m., though, power was back at that school and the day was proceeding normally, he said.

"It's much better now," Salerno said, shortly before noon.

One thing that helped was that the district gave schools authority to keep the heat running over the weekend, so that when power went out sometime overnight Sunday it took awhile for the temperature in the building to start dropping, the principal said.

Still, there were problems. Lights and computers weren't working and neither were the ovens in the cafeteria, which meant no hot breakfast. Cafeteria workers did offer cereal to students who wanted it, Salerno said.

The ovens were back on in time to prepare lunch, he said.

The Seven Spring Middle school day starts at 8:40 a.m. As students arrived, staff members tried to get them directly to their first period classes so they weren't standing outside in the cold, Salerno said.

Tammy Cockill, the parent of two Zephyrhills High students, said her children sat in that school's gymnasium from 7:30 a.m. to about 9 a.m., when she contacted the school and asked that they be checked out so they could go home.

"The staff there was really nice, and they were really stacked up with kids checking out," she said by e-mail.

Cockill said she learned the students were in the gym because of the power outage after she received a text message from her daughter about 8:30 a.m.

"They were not cold, just cramped and bored," Cockill said.

She said if district officials knew there wouldn't be any power, they should have called off school on Monday, at least at the affected schools, since "kids were not learning or doing anything productive."
Cockill acknowledged, though, that closing some schools and leaving others open might not have been a possibility. The Pasco school district has 76 schools.

Pasco schools had been on winter break since Dec. 23 and Monday was the first day back from the break.Romagnoli said power companies notified the district late Friday evening that rolling power brownouts could be a possibility and Superintendent Heather Fiorentino used an automated telephone system over the weekend to let parents and staff know and remind everyone to dress warmly.

Three power companies - Progress Energy, TECO Energy and Withlacoochee Electric Cooperative - provide power for schools in Pasco County, depending on the location.

Because of the weather, the district also canceled all outdoor activities scheduled for Monday evening, Romagnoli said.

The 11 Pasco schools that experienced power outages Monday morning were Chasco Elementary, Pine View Middle, Pine View Elementary, Seven Springs Middle, Zephyrhills High, Marchman Technical Education Center, Ridgewood High, Gulf High, Denham Oaks Elementary, Cotee River Elementary and Mitchell High.