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DECEMBER 8, 2021
Charter school coming to Connerton
By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Pasco County Schools and Connerton Property Charter LLC, the developer of Connerton, have approved an agreement regarding the construction of a charter school, in the master-planned community off of U.S. 41, in Land O’ Lakes. The school will be built on a site includ-
ing 14.2 acres within Villages 3 and 4 of Connerton. The developer and school board also have approved a step-in agreement, in the event it is needed in the future. The board approved the agreements at its Nov. 16 meeting.The items were part of the board’s consent agenda, meaning they were approved along with other items without discussion, in a single action.
Under the charter school agreement, the developer will build a K-8 charter school that will have the capacity for 1,400 students, according to the board’s agenda packet. Plans call for a campus with single- and two-story tilt-wall buildings up to 118,000 square feet. The project will include a black box theSee CHARTER, page 9A
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Crafts abound at Lutz Festival
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Barbara Karnay, of New Port Richey, waits for customers under the roof of the Nature Coast GFWC booth to buy her Christmas wreaths that were fashioned from clothespins. See more photos from the Lutz Arts & Crafts Show, page 1B.
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Michele Northrup, a former Lutz Guv’na, hawks her hot sauce. The Saucy Queen, of Lutz, gets an assist from Atlas Cortecero, as she lets the crowd know how saucy her sauce is.
Eighteen-month-old Monroe Wilkie rides atop of Justine Wilkie’s shoulders, as the mom and son, from Tampa, stroll through the arts and crafts show. They were there with Judy Nicolosi, of Lutz.
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COVID-19 has had wide-ranging Pasco schools want impacts on mental health state to reconsider By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
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COVID-19 UPDATE,
PAGE 6A
The COVID-19 pandemic — with its associated lockdown, and even without it — has created mental health challenges that have played out in assorted ways, according to a panel of experts who addressed the topic in a Zoom session organized by the League of Women Voters Hillsborough County. “I heard from parents of children who were maybe 6 years old, bedwetting, acting out aggression, not wanting to leave home,” said Natasha Pierre, executive director of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Hillsborough. She said she was not prepared for the number of college students who reached out, who were dealing with work, parents having COVID, roommates having COVID, or not having insurance. “I heard from a lot of veterans. Veterans, who because of the stillness, were having memories of combat,” she said. She heard from women who had experienced military sexual trauma or date rape. “Because of the stillness, once again, these memories are coming back,” she said, noting many of those women had never reported the assault. She also heard from retired people, who were financially stable, but felt socially isolated. The pandemic created a mental health crisis, with people feeling overwhelmed by frustration, fear and stress, she said.
Need help? Suicide prevention lifeline: 800-273-8255 NAMI Helpline: 800-950-6264 (Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.)
special ed rule
By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
The first step for getting help is to let someone know you need it, said Pierre, who has lived with mental illness for more than 20 years. “We know that there are people that are being affected by a mental illness, and they’re not talking.They are living in pain. Suffering in silence. They’re existing in a silo,” said Pierre, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder ultradian. She shares her experiences, with the goal of helping others. “When it comes to public awareness, we know that storytelling saves lives,” Pierre said. “The only reason I am speaking to you tonight — with certainty — is because I had great insurance at a time when I needed it most. “The reality is that the vast majority of the people who need the treatment that I got, will not receive it,” Pierre said. Stigma and self-stigma are the biggest
The Pasco County School Board and district officials are asking state officials to take another look at a state rule change they believe could have negative consequences on students with significant cognitive impairments. Changes in the state rule, which took effect this school year, impact the district’s ability to deliver a modified curriculum to teach students with severe cognitive impairments and to evaluate them using an alternate assessment. The rule change essentially eliminated the ability to use that approach for all severely cognitively impaired kindergartners, and severely restricted the option for all students who have an IQ of 68 or more. The problem, according to the Pasco County School Board and the district’s administration, is that children who began kindergarten this year may have already been receiving a modified curriculum while enrolled in programs since the age of 2, but are not provided that option this year. And, older students who had been receiving the less rigorous coursework — with the goal of helping them achieve to the best of their potential — can no longer qualify, except in extraordinary circum-
See MENTAL HEALTH, page 9A
See SCHOOLS, page 9A
Crisis Center of Tampa Bay: 2-1-1 (to connect with local resources)