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Proposed school taxes to be lower
By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
After years of gut-wrenching personnel cuts, Pasco County Schools expects to add employees this year, while reducing tax bills for property owners and balancing a budget of nearly $1.2 billion. The proposed budget is based on a tax rate of $7.15 per $1,000 of taxable value compared to a tax rate of $7.36 this year.
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Hollow and Shady Hills elementary schools, which are slated to reopen in the 2015-16 school year. • $7.9 million for the equivalent of 176 full-time positions, primarily to comply with state class size requirements. • $2.8 million for professional and curriculum mandates. • $1.5 million for increased health insurSee TAXES, page 12
By Michael Murillo mmurillo@lakerlutznews.com
Megan Burgess loves to paint and sing. She looks forward to her weekly art and music class, designed for people with special needs, which are Thursday evenings at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex on Collier Parkway. But if it doesn’t get more support, she might lose that opportunity. And that loss would be felt by both Megan and her mother. “It would be horrible.You want the kids to be socializing,”Violetta Burgess said. Her daughter Megan, 21, has low-functioning autism. She has trouble communicating verbally, but her enthusiasm for the class is clear:When Violetta tells her it’s time for art or music, Megan goes to find her shoes. She knows where she’s going that night, and has a fun time singing, using percussion instruments, painting and participating with everyone else in the class. The problem is that “everyone” was just five students this past session. And for VSA Florida, the state branch of Very Special Arts — an international nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding art opportunities for people with disabilities — five is simply not enough. “It does put the program in jeopardy, because if we don’t keep our numbers up, we’re not able to keep it going,” said Wendy Finklea,VSA Florida’s director of programs. “We aren’t at the point where the class is sustaining itself.” The class requires at least seven students to break even, but really needs a steady ros-
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Megan Burgess paints at her weekly art class at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex with art teacher Angela Dickerson looking on. VSA Florida’s art and music classes for special needs students aren’t breaking even, and if attendance doesn’t improve, the program could be in jeopardy.
ter of 10 or more students to be financially viable long-term. The $40 per month that participants pay not only compensates the teachers who direct the classes, but also covers a nominal fee the organization pays
the recreation complex. Since classes moved from the University of South Florida to Land O’ Lakes in January, See SPECIAL, page 12
MOSI gives health screenings new meaning with theater upgrades mhinman@lakerlutznews.com
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Based on this year’s proposed budget, the owner of a $100,000 home, after $50,000 in exemptions, would pay $357.50 in school taxes, a reduction of $10.50 from the current rate. The proposed budget anticipates the district’s enrollment to be 67,955, an increase of 925 over last year. Allocations in the budget include: • $500,000 to cover costs associated with opening Sanders Memorial, Quail
Special needs classes struggling to stay afloat
By Michael Hinman 24/7 Emergency A/C & Plumbing Service
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When the Imax theater first opened at Tampa’s Museum of Science & Industry in Tampa in 1995, the technology behind the larger-than-life films was still quite revolutionary. Today, however, it’s hard to find a movie complex without an Imax screen, and nearly all of them are digital — leaps and bounds beyond MOSI’s now almost antiquated filmbased system. But that’s changing after a $2 million donation from Florida Hospital that will not only rename the dome theater after the hos-
pital chain, it will bring science to the masses in ways that were never imagined 20 years ago. Called “Florida Hospital Presents Live SX,” surgeons at local hospitals will perform routine surgeries, which will be broadcast live to MOSI’s Coleman Science Works Theater for middle school, high school and college students. “Live SX” will be a lot like the more traditional surgery amphitheaters, except without the need to travel to a hospital. Surgeons will answer questions from the audience, and provide a glimpse into surgery many may not have had otherwise. “We believe that investing in MOSI is important for the community,” said Mike
Schultz, president and chief executive of Florida Hospital West Florida Region, during a check presentation at the Fowler Avenue museum last week. We believe our investment will help support MOSI as it moves forward, to create long-term sustainability of the museum, and further (develop) future scientists and health care professionals while helping develop the work force in the greater Tampa Bay area. “We want to make a difference.” Access to medical professionals in this way is something many don’t get to experience otherwise, especially in suburban areas See MOSI, page 12