Plans for a new 1,000-student charter high school in south-central Pasco County face mounting opposition from families who say they expected a bigger district school to serve the booming Odessa community.
Some parents living in the Starkey Ranch subdivision say the growth in the region demands a large public school that does not have a lottery system to gain admission. They note the area’s K-8 school, built in 2021, required an additional classroom wing after less than a year of operation.
All the Pasco County district high schools in the vicinity, except for one specialty magnet, sit at 90% of capacity or higher.
Anticipating the need for another high school, the district bought property in 2017 just north of State Road 54 and east of Gunn Highway. It’s where families were told to look for the next high school when they invested in the community, said parent Erin Stroupe, who is leading an effort urging the school board to reconsider the charter plan.
Six years later, the school board narrowly agreed to sell a portion of the land for $10 to the Patel Foundation for Global Understanding, which operates an “advanced” charter high school in Temple Terrace and wants to expand into Pasco. That deal has ruffled some feathers.
Yes, the charter school would absorb some of the growth, Stroupe said. But it wouldn’t guarantee children in the community a seat, she added, perhaps forcing district schools into more crowded conditions.
“With all these new communities going up, if there’s not a public (district) high school, what are the plans for all this growth?” Stroupe said. “When they’re at capacity, where will everybody go?”
Patel’s application for a school charter comes to the board on Tuesday. It’s become the focal point for residents who want to see the board reverse course.
The land deal depends on Patel securing a charter and contract for the school.
School board vice chairperson Alison Crumbley, who opposed the sale, is ready to fight the charter.
“It’s not what our community wants,” Crumbley said. “We bought that land for a traditional high school, full size with sports. Period.”
She raised concerns that students from Hillsborough County, which sits about 2 miles south, could claim seats through the application lottery, limiting access to Pasco children when those seats are “so vital.” With other nearby campuses such as Mitchell and Sunlake high schools above 100% capacity, she said, “How does this solve that? Somebody needs to tell me.”
District officials have said they believe a 1,000-seat school will help manage growth in the area. They added that the administration talked about placing a smaller “boutique” school similar to the proposed charter on the site soon after buying it, because of the odd shape of the property.
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Explore all your optionsBy having Patel build it, the district avoids the construction expense.
Crumbley flatly rejected that premise as revisionist history.
“Don’t give me that crap,” she said. “No one ever told me that, or anyone else on school board or the parents living in the community surrounding it.”
She suggested that if the administration had not brought the land deal to the board the week after longtime board attorney Dennis Alfonso passed away, board members would have been able to get proper legal counsel on all these issues.
“It should have been pulled off the agenda,” Crumbley said. “I wish I had. This is not going to help our kids.”
Other board members weren’t quick to agree.
Chairperson Megan Harding said she needed time to review the charter plan, particularly as it relates to allowing Hillsborough students to attend. “I want kids from Pasco to be there,” Harding said.
She raised concerns about what the state might do if the board rejects a charter that meets state requirements. She also noted that the charter was separate from the land deal.
Board member Al Hernandez said he had not received too many complaints about the project. From his perspective, he said, allowing the charter school to pay for construction seems to make business sense.
He also said he wanted more information before he would feel comfortable with the charter.
Stroupe said some parents have been hesitant to speak out because they’ve heard that the charter is a “done deal.” They note site development permits have already been pulled.
But she said given all the board knows about continuing growth, budget constraints, transportation limitations and other concerns, maybe it will think twice.
“If we had copious amounts of land and this was going to be in addition to a public high school, that would be different,” she said. “But that’s not the case. ... I would like to know, what is the plan for our students in five to ten years.”
