Pasco school board pushes vote on rezoning plan

NEW PORT RICHEY (FOX 13) - Pasco County is one of the fastest growing counties in the entire nation. Thousands of new homes are going up and the resulting population growth is putting pressure on the school system.

Tuesday there was another showdown between the school board and parents, who are angry over plans to change school boundaries.

Pasco County School Board members now say they will wait for the May 17 court hearing rather than voting on the controversial school boundary rezoning plan.  

The board also chose not to adopt an alternative plan put forth by parents who have opposed the district's plan.

"Had they gone with the plan we recommended today it would be all over. Instead, they chose to fight," said Jim Stanley, one of the parents who has been active in a legal battle with the board over its proposed boundary changes.  

School Superintendent Kurt Browning says he will submit the board's original plan, with minor modifications, to the judge at the hearing.

"The same judge that heard the first case will be hearing the second case, so he's very familiar with it," said Browning.

The judge ruled against the school board in his initial ruling because members of the board's Parent Committee on School Boundaries met privately - which is a violation of the state's sunshine law.

Browning believes the board's position would have prevailed had it not been for that infraction.  

Stanley disagrees and says the continued legal fight will impact students.

"Now our children won't know until summer where they're going to school, and that's completely unforgivable," he said.

Stanley and other parents in the Longleaf and Ellington Place neighborhoods want their children to continue attending Seven Springs Middle School and Mitchell High School rather than switch to other schools, under the district's plan.

Superintendent Browning released the following statement in regards to the vote being pushed back: 

“It would have been my preference to have these boundaries approved today so that schools and parents can plan for next year; however, since the proposal has been challenged, I thought it was prudent to postpone the vote until after the administrative law judge has a chance to hear arguments,” said Superintendent Browning.