On January 28, the Hernando County School Board met for yet another workshop to discuss the updated school expansion plan. After a presentation from School Planner Jim Lipsey and Brian Ragan, Director of Facilities and Construction, the board voted to continue with Phase 2.
Changes that were implemented in the plan’s second phase included increasing Chocahatti Elementary’s enrollment from 784 students, which is 79 percent of its capacity, to 993 students (100 percent). As an example, Mr. Lipsey noted that if all of these students were theoretically moved from Moton Elementary to Chocachatti, that would decrease Moton’s enrollment from 112 to 87 percent.
A similar situation is set to take place with Challenger K-8. With a capacity of 1,607 and an enrollment rate of 91 percent (1,457 students), the plan calls for drawing 150 students from zoned schools such as Winding Waters K-8 to fill those empty seats. These figures reflect the numbers as they currently are, not as they will be after phase one is complete.
Council member Mark Johnson stressed that the county needs more new schools to be built, especially on the East side of the county, and he does not want to see the “can kicked down the road” anymore. He added that the money from the half-cent sales tax could go towards this, and the longer they wait, the less money that can be used towards building a school.
Fellow board member Michelle Bonczek agreed that a new school is necessary. Shannon Rodriguez was not against it and Superintendent Ray Pinder acknowledged that there would likely be a need for it, but both felt that now was not the best time to start building. Mr. Pinder recommended that it would be “prudent” to wait until Phase One is completed and resume talk of building by February 2025.
“At the moment, it would not make sense,” Mrs. Rodriguez said. “If we have never rushed, and we have not put a school up in 12 years […] then why today. We have all the reasons why we need to wait just a little longer. So, we have kicked the can this far. We need to kick it a little bit longer because we have to be concerned with the finances.”
Mr. Johnson wanted a guarantee on when the building of a school would happen, but Superintendent Pinder could not promise an exact time frame. However, Pinder did note that they could begin having discussions sooner.
A quick conversation revolved around the idea of building a middle school versus a K-8. The board agreed that if they were to build one of these establishments, a school that accommodates kindergarteners through eighth graders is better for the children.
In their discussion of a technical high school with no sports versus a traditional high school with a full sports program, Mrs. Rodriguez and Mrs. Bonczek sided with a full high school. Susan Duval reminded the board that Pasco County has academies that had sports programs added onto them after the fact. So, that may be an option as well.
A full high school would require approximately three years to build from planning to construction. A full high school requires a minimum of 60 developable acres and the district looks to purchase 80-acre plots in case of any unusable land on the property.
Mr. Lipsey showed the difference in cost between the building of a new school and a simple addition.
New School (2,500 Students)
Land Acquisition – 80 acres at $25,000 per acre – $2,000,000
Building Construction (100 Classrooms) – 360,000 square feet at $450 per square foot – $162,000,000
Sitework and Infrastructure – Varies based on site, but estimated around $13,000,000
Operation – 1 Year (excluding transportation) – $13,000,000
Total: $190,000,000
Addition (500 Students)
Land Acquisition – 0 acres – $0
Building Construction (20 Classrooms) – 42,000 square feet at $450 per square foot – $19,000,000
Sitework and Infrastructure – Varies based on site but estimated around $1,000,000
Operation – 1 Year (excluding transportation) – $900,000
Total: $20,900,000
“We could build about 9 of these classroom additions […] that is 4,500 student stations […] for the same cost as doing a single high school that gets you 2,500 student stations.”
Mrs. Rodriguez reasoned that this allows the school board to address specific needs in specific areas until they feel the time is right to build a brand-new school from the ground up. However, she also recommended that a new school be added to their vision board.
Rodriguez, Johnson, and Duval also agreed on the idea of reopening the conversation around rezoning to alleviate school enrollment numbers around the county. The board agreed to continue with Phase 2 and will reconvene to confirm the details of Phase 3 at a later date.
