Emptying The Town Hall Notebook

More than 1,000 parents and students streamed into Wesley Chapel High’s gymnasium Tuesday night, all hoping to convince Pasco County administrators that the recommended plan for school rezoning of their communities – Option 12 — was a bad one.

Did they succeed after the three-and-a-half hour town hall? We’ll find out Friday, when the Pasco School Boundary Committee (SBC) meets at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the arguments made Tuesday night, and whether any of its members – made up of school principals, parents and county administrators – have changed their minds about recommending Option 12.

The SBC, brought together to zone the new Cypress Creek Middle and High School (opening in 2017-18) and reduce overcrowding at Wesley Chapel’s other schools, unanimously voted to recommend Option 12 to the school board in its last meeting.

Option 12 fills the new school with mostly students living west of I-75, but to relieve overcrowding at Wiregrass Ranch High and John Long Middle, also re-zones students who live in neighborhoods with access to Meadow Pointe Blvd. (north and south of S.R. 56), which affects families in Meadow Pointe III and IV, Country Walk, Union Park and other communities.

The re-zoned students, who currently attend John Long Middle (JLMS) and Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH), would move to Thomas E. Weightman Middle (TWM) and Wesley Chapel High (WCH).

At least 50 parents wore black shirts with the 12 crossed out on it at the meeting. The crowd appeared split between two options, 13 and 20, and clearly opposed to 12.

Option 13 basically keeps communities south of S.R. 56 in their current WRH and JLMS zone, preserving Meadow Pointe III and Union Park. For the most part, Option 20 keeps the current zone as it is, with the exception moving Seven Oaks and Northwood to WMS and WCH.

To sum up the meeting: no one wants to drive up Meadow Pointe Blvd. to S.R. 54 to Curley Road during peak traffic hours to get to and from school.

Here’s some notes from the parents town hall at WCH, where more than 50 parents and students lined up behind a microphone and made their cases in front of a panel of county administrators (you’ll have to excuse the lack of names. Only a handful of speakers identified themselves, and chasing them down after they spoke was not possible. I’m basically emptying my notebook here.):

• The first mention of Option 20, by Pasco director of planning Chris Williams, drew a raucous ovation. By the same token, the first mention of Option 12 was roundly booed.
  
• The first speaker was in favor of Option 20, and said there was a petition backing her support with 1,120 signatures on it that was emailed to the School Board Tuesday afternoon.
• One speaker worried about the “emotional impact” on kids not being to attend their neighborhood schools. She worried that the mental health of many of the re-zoned children would be compromised.
• One parent who has two children at WRH and in the band said the re-zoning would be a logistical nightmare. This is a legitimate concern echoed by a number of parents during the night.Students who will be seniors next year don’t have to change schools, but their siblings who are incoming freshman or rising sophomores or juniors will have to. “Friday night is going to be very hard,’’ the mom said, with one student performing in band at WRH while the other is performing at the same time at WCH.It was suggested the county consider grandfathering in siblings of seniors to prevent this.
• The biggest loser of the night? S.R. 54.“It’s horrible. It’s horrendous. It’s dangerous,’’ said one speaker.A large majority of the supporters of Option 20 cite traffic as their main reason, since it will keep their students from having to be transported up Meadow Pointe Blvd. and then across S.R. 54 to WCH.No one wants to travel on S.R. 54, especially considering a widening project right in front where it crosses Meadow Pointe Blvd. begins in 2017.
• Supporters of options 13 and 20 are emboldened by a Florida Department of Transportation review by Joel Provenzano, but especially supports of Option 20.A permits review manager and traffic engineering specialist for FDOT, Provenzavo concluded “the best traffic pattern for the state roads (by far) is Option 20.”Provenzano’s professional opinion was debated Tuesday night, with some suggesting it was just that – an opinion. No official study has been done by FDOT concerning the school options and traffic patterns, and some Seven Oaks parents said their path to school, north on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. and east of S.R. 54, would also be fraught with danger.Williams said the county typically doesn’t consult with FDOT – or the Fire and Sheriff’s departments – when drawing its school zones. Again, we’ll see how much of an effect Provenzano’s assessment has on the committee come Friday.But the frustration over the possibility of a 10-minute bus ride to school becoming a 30- or 45-minute ride to school was palpable Tuesday night.
• One parent was distraught that her daughter had taken all the prerequisites for WRH’s culinary program, and now would have to attend a school that didn’t have one. A Wesley Chapel student was concerned the sign language courses she had been hoping to take would not be offered at the new school.They were told to look into school choice. If your child is sold on one program or another, and the school they are zoned for doesn’t offer it, they can apply to another school. There are no guarantees, however, that choice will be granted.
• Kevin Croswell, representing Meadow Pointe III, spoke out against Option 12. Croswell is against any option that breaks up his community, and thinks the SBC was influenced by Seven Oaks Voice — another parent group that submitted their own proposal for re-zoning that protected its community — because three of the SBC members are Seven Oaks residents.According to Williams, that is not true. He says there are two Seven Oaks residents on the SBC, and they were chosen by the school principals from WRH and JLM, who were allowed to pick two parents apiece. Williams added the county had nothing to do with those choices, and that trying to choose a parent from every community that might be affected would create chaos.However, the lack of Meadow Pointe representation on the SBC was a sticking point for a number of parents in the crowd Tuesday night. One parents yelled out “It’s rigged!”
• At least two speakers criticized Meadow Pointe residents for not being more aware of what was going on and attending previous SBC meetings.It wasn’t until the final recommendation that Meadow Pointe and the surrounding communities mobilized. Those residents will tell you if they had had any idea their area had any chance of being re-zoned, they would have been more involved.
• Some John Long Middle students spoke, leaving some panel members a little cold as they criticized what may be their new schools. One JLM student suggested to the panel it bring Weightman and Wesley Chapel up to par with his school, which is an A-school, and Wiregrass Ranch (a B school), which would prevent fights about rezoning.Another JLM student claimed that the re-zoning would leave him “friendless.” That drew a collective “awwwwwww” from the crowd.
• WCH, a C-rated school in 2015 after four straight years as a B school, took a bit of a beating throughout the night, as did TWM, which is a B school. Wesley Chapel principal Carin Hetzler-Nettles did not have to be restrained even one time. Good job, Carin.
• A number of band and athletic parents, as well as a few band members themselves, weren’t happy about the possibility of changing schools.Citing scholarship offers and exposure, they argued that leaving a band at WRH that finished 4^th in the state for a new band that may not be as good was detrimental to their college hopes. Same goes for a few parents of athletes, especially football players, some who will have to leave two good teams at WCH and WRH for the inaugural Cypress Creek team.With no seniors, that team will almost certainly take its lumps and go 0-10. On the other hand, being one of the players that help start a program can provide its own level of fulfillment.
• Tom McClanahan, who is representing Union Park, spoke briefly, as did Mark McBride, who leads Seven Oaks Voices. The two community leaders have formed an alliance in support of Option 13.The two have already submitted proposals. Williams says he has received a handful of similar proposals from community leaders, and all have been forwarded to the SBC members.McClanahan’s proposal says that Option 13 reduces the overcrowding of every school below their current levels (Option 12 leaves WCH and TWM over capacity) and provides a more equitable distribution of students. The nine-page report was submitted to the SBC and the school board.
• And since Option 12 does leave WCH and TWM overcrowded, what are they thinking, asked another speaker, contending that north of S.R. 54 is a much bigger residential growth area than Wiregrass Ranch. Epperson Ranch is building homes, she said, Water Grass is still growing and Avalon Park could see as many as 4,000 new homes built in the coming years.And let’s not forget the Connected City.
• Eva Cooper of Meadow Pointe III, who has a sophomore and a senior at Wiregrass Ranch, lobbied for Option 20 because she claims Option 12 only keeps six communities together, while Option 20 doesn’t split up any. She asked why the SBC decided to keep Seven Oaks, where 19 percent of WRH students live, intact, while splitting up Meadow Pointe, which has 46 percent. “Why are we accommodating so few, and affecting so many?,’’ she asked.
• Another Option 20 supporter and Country Walk resident, Tina Dosal, submitted a proposal based on maintaining the Double Branch feeder pattern. Maintaining feeder programs is one of the considerations the SBC was tasked with, but Dosal was one of the few to actually make the feeder argument.
• The panel Tuesday night was comprised of Chris Williams (Director of Planning), Carin Hetzler-Nettles (Wesley Chapel principal), Dr. Monica Isle Ed.D (Area Superintendent for east county), Kimberly Poe (Strategic Initiatives and Allocations Program Manager), Dr. David Scanga Ed.D (Area Superintendent for central county), Elizabeth Kuhn (Assistant Superintendent for Support Services), Gary Sawyer (Director of Transportation Services) and Matt Wicks (County Athletic Director).

In conclusion, at least 90 percent of the people in attendance Tuesday night think Option 12 is terrible. But did they make their case strongly enough for Option 13, or Option 20?

Proponents of each of those options turned Tuesday night into a battle between 13 and 20. But to use a football analogy, it all reminds me of an NFL review of a questionable reception.

The call is made (Option 12, in this case), but the referees won’t overturn that call without clear evidence they were wrong. A number of different angles of the instant replay were offered Tuesday night, and on Friday when we’ll know what the SBC sees when it comes out from under the hood.

The public cannot speak — your chance was Tuesday night — but they can attend the SBC meeting Friday at 10:30 a.m. in the Wesley Chapel High media center. Williams said despite all the information provided Tuesday, as well as all the emails and proposals he has received and passed on, he expects a decision to be made and an option to pass for recommendation to the school board, which will hold two public readings of the proposal before voting on it in January.

Assistant editor John C. Cotey can be reached at john@neighborhoodnews.com.