Pasco School Superintendent Kurt Browning has tested positive for Covid-19.
Browning notified Pasco County school employees today. He is now in isolation at home.
In a statement from Pasco County Schools, Browning has experienced relatively minor symptoms (fever, chills, general achiness) since Friday, prompting him to get tested. On Sunday, the results indicated he had tested positive.
“My symptoms are relatively minor, but I’m not taking this lightly,’’ Browning, 61, said on Monday. “I’m looking forward to get back to work full strength as soon as the medical experts say I can.”
Browning has mostly been working from home during the coronavirus crisis, but has spent some time in his office in recent weeks. However, he was informed that his interactions do not amount to close contact and do not require self isolation or testing for those he came in contact with.
Last week, Browning unveiled the plans to re-open schools in August, giving parents three choices for their children’s education this fall. The deadline to make a choice is July 1 by filling out the form HERE.
Teachers and administrators hand out breakfast and lunch for the week at Quail Hollow Elementary. (Photo: Charmaine George)
For years, the Wesley Chapel story has been one of growth and expansion, where new businesses and communities popped up on what seemed like a weekly basis, where roads were crowded, schools were filled to capacity and business was booming.
Appears to be time for a new chapter.
The next one written will be about the recovery from a deadly virus, COVID-19, that has shut almost everything across the country and the world down, stripped people of their jobs and the roads of its automobiles and people of their sense of safety and well-being.
“It came so fast,” says Pasco County commissioner Mike Moore. “These are unprecedented times and I don’t think anybody, no matter your age, unless you lived through the Great Depression, has gone through anything like this.”
On April 2, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, after weeks of harsh criticism for his inaction, shut the state down for 30 days with a stay-at-home order.
While essential businesses were allowed to stay open, everyone else was encouraged to stay home. Healthcare providers, grocery stores, gas stations, laundry service providers, office supply stores, the media and restaurants – take-out and delivery only – are all considered essential services.
DeSantis also included religious services at church.
When we went to press with our New Tampa issue on March 20th, the number of positive cases of coronavirus in Florida had just passed 500, and there had been 10 deaths.
Two weeks later as we wrapped up our current issue on April 3, there were 9,585 cases (including 74 in Pasco County) and 163 deaths (only two here at our press time).
While there have been glimmers of hope as the number of cases slows down and the flattening of the curve begins, local officials are still hard at work prepping for whatever the future holds.
Locally, Moore and other Pasco County officials have been scrambling to prepare the area with countless meetings and teleconferences, as business and schools and families have started full-fledged adjustments to life with coronavirus concerns.
Schools appear unlikely to open again this academic year. There has been no word on whether high school graduation ceremonies in Pasco County, scheduled for June 3-7, will actually take place.
Area schools have transitioned to online teaching/distance learning, and have been praised for the early results of those efforts.
“Saying that the last 2-3 weeks have been anything short of different would be an understatement,” said Pasco School District superintendent Kurt Browning. “It really has turned the school district on its heels…but a tip of the hat to the teachers and administrators for stepping up and digging in to find out how this works.”
Not only did schools hand out roughly 15,000 devices to accommodate students for distance learning, it also already has distributed more than 110,000 meals for students.
Originally a daily distribution, the district is now providing breakfast and lunch meals for the whole week on Tuesdays. The day of the first Tuesday distribution — on March 31— 80,680 meals were provided to families via drive-through lanes of 25 schools, including New River and Quail Hollow elementary schools.
Tuesday food service will continue through April.
The Tampa Premium Outlets have been temporarily closed since mid-March.
Local businesses, however, are finding survival to be much more difficult, especially those who don’t have a business that can transition to offer its services online.
Social distancing is currently the best defense against coronavirus, according to medical experts, but it’s also the antithesis to small business success, especially for those in the service industry like hair and nail salons, small stores or studios and restaurants.
“It’s pretty stressful,” said James Serrano, who owns Pinot’s Palette in Wesley Chapel, a small art-and-wine studio that specializes in group painting events.
Those that can’t remain open can only hope that the stay-at-home order expires in 30 days.
However, no business owners we talked believed that 30 days was a realistic timeline, and most are readying to hunker down for a month or two longer.
“The best-case scenario from what I understand is May 8,” says Brass Tap owner Jeff Martin. “But, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Social distancing is the norm in Wawa and pretty much everywhere. (Photo: Charmaine George)
Because Wesley Chapel is an area with a high concentration of small businesses — many of which have been experiencing boom times over the past few years due to the area’s tremendous growth — coronavirus fears are likely to strike a harsher blow.
But, no one really seems to know where this headed, except for uncharted territory.
“There are a lot of unknowns, and that is really the scary part,” says Hope Kennedy, the CEO of the 700-member North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce. “I’m not sure we’ve gotten to the (worst) of this. Once we do, we can get into recovery mode.”
Pasco County Superintendant of Schools Kurt Browning meets with school safety guard Connie Novak, one of many to be stationed at schools all across the county. (Photo: Pasco County Schools
In the weeks leading up to school starting two weeks ago, school officials across the state have been preparing to comply with a new state law. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act was passed in the aftermath of the mass shooting at the high school in Parkland, FL, on Valentine’s Day of this year, and requires armed security on every public school campus.
The new law also comes as parents are reporting having more fear about sending their kids to school. Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) International is a national professional organization for educators that has surveyed attitudes towards public education every year since 1969. This year’s poll finds that one in three parents fear for their child’s physical safety at school. PDK describes that as, “a sharp increase from 2013, when just 12 percent said they were fearful.”
In Pasco County, middle and high schools will continue to have Pasco Sheriff’s Office (PSO) deputies serving as school resource officers.
In addition, Pasco County Schools has hired school safety guards for all elementary schools, with each one carrying a gun and a Taser, as well as handcuffs.
Simple security precautions are being emphasized, such as locking gates and classroom doors, using scanning software to check for sexual offenders/predators, and making sure everyone who comes on campus goes through the office.
With the new school year just underway, we asked Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning to tell us more about the changes in school security, and what to expect at Wesley Chapel’s schools this year.
WCNN: Now that kids are back at school, what are they seeing and experiencing that is different from previous years?
Browning: The elementary students are seeing armed safety guards for the first time.
The guards will be easy to spot, because they’ll be wearing black polo shirts with our safety guard logo on the sleeve, and a vest with the word “Security” on the back. Students may not see any differences related to mental health services, but there will be a better coordinated effort to respond to students in crisis between the school, the district, law enforcement and community mental health partners.
We are adding social worker, psychologist and school nurse trainers to help school student services staff (members) respond to student mental health issues.
WCNN: Tell us more about the changes to the way that mental health is addressed in schools, and will students or teachers notice those changes?
Browning: Student mental health needs will be broken out into three tiers of support.
Tier 1 is universal prevention for all students. Tier 2 is supplemental/at-risk services involving early identification and social, emotional and behavioral interventions based on need.
New River Elementary security guard.
Tier 3 is individualized, intensive counseling and intervention, including behavior support plans, intensive monitoring, and wraparound and crisis planning.
We are increasing the number of crisis intervention teams from four to five, increasing the number of trainers for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), creating a 3-year training plan, and expanding the use of social emotional learning in instructional practices.
In accordance with the new law, we also have revised our threat assessment procedures and coordinated threat assessments to include law enforcement.
We will have a new mental health managing entity, the Central Florida Behavioral Health Network (CFBHN), which will provide a project manager to manage mental health services and assist with data reporting.
We are implementing the Sandy Hook Promise: “Know the Signs” programs, and creating a Parent University and other parent training opportunities.
WCNN: What are your thoughts about the changes in school security mandated by the new state law?
Browning: They’re a good start. Without significant funding increases, though, it is difficult to implement all of the safety measures we would like to. We are working within our means to do everything we can to make our campuses as safe as possible.
WCNN: What is the benefit to students and schools of having armed security guards on elementary school campuses?
Browning: Elementary schools will have school safety guards trained by the Sheriff’s Office on campus. These men and women will provide a level of security that elementary schools have not had in the past. They will be visible at drop-offs in the morning and during dismissal. They will patrol the grounds to make sure doors and gates are locked, and to assure that everyone on campus is checked in and accounted for. They also will be a resource for students and staff, and will become part of the school community.
WCNN: With all of the continued growth in Wesley Chapel, what rezoning plans are in the works?
Browning: We don’t currently have any rezoning in the works.
WCNN: What is the current timeline for opening Cypress Creek Middle School and transitioning the current Middle/High School to a high school only?
Browning: Cypress Creek Middle School is scheduled to open in August 2020. The transition will occur at that time.
WCNN: Are there any other new schools proposed or under construction in Wesley Chapel?
Browning: We are working on a plan to build a technical high school in East-Central Pasco in the next five years.
WCNN: On a side note, can you explain why there is a transition to call substitute teachers “guest teachers” instead? Does that apply to all substitute teachers or only those in a certain category? Is it expected that staff and students will address these teachers as “guest teachers” and not refer to the more common “substitute?”
Browning: We have some really great subs and are hoping this will enhance their credibility and better demonstrate the scope and caliber of their service to kids in classrooms….as opposed to the “just a sub” mentality.
We’ve also moved to professional guest teachers (formerly “professional subs”) as well as the daily and long-term guest teachers. All students and staff will be expected to use the title, although there will be a natural adjustment period.
Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning knew heading into a months-long school rezoning process in Wesley Chapel — which was going to move students to the new Cypress Creek Middle/High School on Old Pasco Rd., as well as relieve overcrowding elsewhere — that he was going to be facing some upset parents.
He expected a few emails, some phone calls, maybe even a jeer or two at some of the public meetings. What he didn’t expect, however, was the intensity of the vitriol directed his way. “I think the personal attacks are tough,” Browning says. “I’m a pretty thick-skinned kind of guy, but still, it’s hard to read.”
Browning doesn’t read a lot of the things written about him on Facebook, and when an email turns sour with profanity, he immediately discards it.
“I’m okay with harsh words, I’m okay with tough facts, and people being unhappy with me, I get that,’’ he says. “But when you start using profane language and start personally attacking me based on things that have nothing to do with rezoning, (that’s where I draw the line).”
In the Wesley Chapel process, Browning’s decision to step in and recommend Option 13 over Option 20, which was selected after months of meetings of the School Boundary Committee (SBC) as well as parents, has only intensified the hard feelings towards him.
“I have a hard time with (Option) 20, because it moves more students and it moves them multiple times,’’ Browning said.
How seriously are parents in Wesley Chapel taking the boundary process and Browning’s entry into it?
One emailer wrote, “May God have mercy on your souls.”
“The level to which it has escalated is surprising,’’ Browning says.
On Dec. 20, the School Board tentatively approved Option 13 for the 2017-18 school year, which moves students from Country Walk and parts of Meadow Pointe IV from Dr. John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) to a zone where they will now attend Thomas E. Weightman Middle School and Wesley Chapel High (WCH).
On Tuesday, January 17, the last public hearing will be held at the county School District office before the final vote takes place.
Though once a seemingly smooth process, the shifting opinions and recommendations, as well as the high-running emotions of parents, has thrown it into disarray.
Originally, the School Boundary Committee (SBC) had selected Option 12. That triggered a large protest in the form of a parent’s town hall that drew more than 1,000 Wesley Chapel residents — many of them wearing anti-12 shirts and lobbying hard for Option 20, which rezoned all of Seven Oaks for Weightman and WCH but preserved the current zones for Union Park, Country Walk and Meadow Pointe III & IV.
On Dec. 2, the SBC ditched Option 12 and settled on a final recommendation of Option 20, setting off more fiery responses in Wesley Chapel, as we reported in our Dec. 16 issue.
“That’s when I came in and started looking with the staff at the number of times students would have to move,’’ Browning says, adding that he was concerned that, under Option 20, some students could end up rezoned three different times as the Wesley Chapel area continues to expand.
“That’s when I made the recommendation to the School Board that we go back to the middle ground and Option 13, which keeps Seven Oaks at Wiregrass Ranch,’’ Browning says. “But, the line has to go someplace.”
Browning’s decision to step into the process was met with still more anger from people. Many parents were incensed that after a long process involving a committee of school principals, parents and county administrators, Browning intervened and essentially overruled all of their work.
The Conspiracy Theories
Although they existed before, Browning’s involvement has only heightened the number of conspiracies floating around the boundary process, including one alleging special relationships between Browning and Pasco County commissioner Mike Moore, who lives in Seven Oaks and has children attending Pasco public schools.
“I’ve been accused of all kinds of things,’’ Browning says, adding that he has, “never had a private meeting or a private conversation with anyone from Seven Oaks, or Country Walk, or Union Park, or anywhere else when it comes to rezoning.”
Browning calls Moore a friend, but adds that they don’t socialize. He says he has discussed impact fees with the commissioner, because eventually the decision will come before the BCC, which Moore chairs, but nothing about rezoning.
Moore, whose wife Lauren works at WCH, said that any claims that he interfered with the process are ludicrous. “I have no problem sending my kids to any school in Wesley Chapel,’’ Moore says. “Other than that, I haven’t been involved at all.”
Browning says that he injected himself into the process only after the SBC changed their mind twice. He said he reached out to the District’s director of planning Chris Williams, and asked him to explain why the committee went from Option 12 to 20.
They met, looked over numbers and maps, and Browning says that he felt strongly that Option 13 met more of the goals of drawing new boundaries.
“I knew as soon as I made that decision, that there was going to be a lot of backlash to it,’’ Browning says. “I am very respectful of the committees that do the work for the District…very respectful of that process. But also, there’s a law out there that says the superintendent is responsible for the efficient operation of the school district. Efficiency is everything anymore because of the dollars that we get or don’t get from Tallahassee to operate a district as large as the one we operate.”
That efficiency includes keeping costs down. With the county already strapped for cash, moving school portables, which currently house the overflow of students at many schools, can leave a financial mark.
“Under my recommendation, Option 13, we don’t have to move as many portables as under 20,’’ Browning says. “That’s a huge factor. It costs us $30,000 a portable just to move them.”
Another consideration by Browning was ending the 10-day school periods WRH students have been operating on since 2015.
Option 13, Browning says, eases overcrowding at WRH, which is currently operating at 168 percent capacity, or 1,025 students over it’s original cap of 1,633.
“I will tell you, Wiregrass Ranch is not going to be on a 10-period day next year, or the next year,’’ Browning says. “We’ve got enough students out of Wiregrass Ranch this coming year, a drop of 450-500 kids, to get it off the 10-period day.”
The Impact Fee Solution?
The bigger problem for Browning and students in Wesley Chapel, however, is the rapid growth of the area. Put simply, there are too many students for the number of middle and high schools in Wesley Chapel, so building another one — a new middle school on the current Cypress Creek Middle/High School campus — is paramount.
But , Browning says the funds aren’t there for the likely cost of roughly $70-million. The School Board has decided to ask the Pasco Board of County Commissioners to double the county’s school impact fees, which are charged on newly built homes to pay for new classrooms, from the current $4,800 to $9,174 per single family home.
The impact fee started out as a $1,651 charge in 2001 and has been adjusted twice. It now stands at $4,800 per single-family home, and hasn’t changed since 2008. An attempt to lower that figure in 2011 was defeated by a 3-2 vote by the BCC.
“It needs to double,’’ Browning said, citing a recent study by the county’s consultants. “I’m saying we need the $9,000.”
Browning says there is no capital money to put into new school construction. The Penny for Pasco tax voters approved only allows that money to be spent for technology enhancements, renovations and remodeling. “So, we’re kind of hogtied a little bit,’’ Browning adds.
If doubled, the impact fees could generate another $125 million over the next 10 years for new schools, including the construction of Cypress Creek Middle School. The best-case scenario would mean a new school could be built in four years.
“If we are successful in getting the impact fees increased to the level that will generate enough dollars quickly enough, the first school that we will probably want to look at would be the new Cypress Creek Middle School,’’ Browning says. “And, what that will allow us to do is literally open up 1,000 seats at Cypress Creek Middle/High.”
That would trigger another rezoning, and students living in Seven Oaks would attend the new schools.
“I think Seven Oaks is put on notice that when we open that middle school, they’re going to be rezoned to Cypress Creek,” Browning says.
Rezoning is the nature of the beast in high development areas. Browning hears from a lot of out-of-state transplants who have never been through a rezoning process. He says many of them attended the same schools their parents and grandparents did.
“I tell them that’s because they lived in a neighborhood that was built out or not growing,’’ Browning says. “In Florida, when you look at the vast expanse of space, and Pasco County is right in the crosshairs of development, that’s (not going to happen).”
There are no easy answers, and no way to make everyone happy, Browning says. But the questions — he says he sees those every day as he drives from Meadow Pointe Blvd. to Little Rd. on the other side of the county — in the form of new rooftops.
“I jokingly tell people I drive that stretch of road with my eyes closed, because I don’t want to see all the rooftops, knowing there’s going to be kids under many of those rooftops. My question is, rhetorically, where am I going to put them?”
Although I’ve been doing my job for 20 years, I’m embarrassed to say that I had never attended a Special Olympics competition before I visited the 2014 Pasco County Special Olympics “Summer Games,” which were held on March 4 on the campus of Wesley Chapel High (WCH). And, what I saw was that the Special Olympics is more about love and friendship and the true spirit of competition than it is about winning medals.Continue reading
