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Hillsborough Schools avoid takeover
By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Hillsborough County Schools will avoid a state takeover of its finances through the state’s agreement to provide a lump sum payment of $101 million in federal relief dollars. Hillsborough Schools Superintendent Addison Davis and School Board Chair
Lynn Gray held a joint news conference to announce the news and to talk about how the school district goes forward from here. Davis said the release of the Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) II funds, coupled with district cost control strategies, create an opportunity to move forward on solid financial footing. He said the lump sum payment will
allow the district to transfer some of its COVID-19 expenses — to free up some of its general fund dollars. It also has allowed the district to meet the state’s fund balance requirement to avoid a financial takeover by the state — a prospect that has loomed large in recent months. See TAKEOVER, page 7A
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Photo club wins big at state fair Members of the Land O’ Lakes Photography Club garnered several awards in the Florida State Fair’s annual contest. Above, a photo by Lillian Cucuzza, won first place in the Color-Animals (Wildlife) category. She calls it ‘Sunrise Dip’ because the photo captures an American Avocet taking a drink in the early morning sunrise. See more award-winning photos on page 3A.
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Susan Hill took home the first place award in the Color: Pets & Farm Animals category. It shows two canine brothers, Charlie, on the left, and Buster, demonstrating some good old-fashioned sibling rivalry as they spar over a toy.
This photo, by Allen Craley, won first place in the Color-Scene (Land, Sea, Sky-scapes) category. It depicts a dramatic scene at an agricultural landscape off Route U.S. 301, in rural southern Maryland. The photo was taken last summer.
New state law increases Pasco MPO to school choice funding consider priority By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
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Students and families will have more school choice options through an expansion of the program signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis signed the new law during a news conference at a Catholic school in Hialeah, on May 10. The new law is summarized on Senate President Wilton Simpson’s web page. Provisions of the new law, according to that summary, include: • An expansion of school choice to allow a family of four earning less than $100,000 to receive full funding of K-12 education costs at a school of their choice. • Increased eligibility, including to students who were not enrolled in a public school the previous year, as well as students of parents serving in the military, and students who are in foster care or adopted. • The Family Empowerment Scholarship program will serve both low-income students and students with unique abilities. Each category has its own eligibility standards, enrollment caps, priority funding lists,
scholarship amounts, and authorized spending uses. • The scholarship award also has been increased to 100% of the funding the student is assigned through the state’s funding formula; previously, it was 95% of that amount. • The McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities and the Gardiner Scholarship Program are now part of the Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES). • Initial eligible income limits have increased from 300% of the federal poverty level to 375%. DeSantis extolled the value of the new legislation in a news release on his website. “This legislation creates historical levels of flexibility in both schooling and educational services for millions of low-income families and families of students with unique abilities. “As we have seen for more than 20 years now, these scholarship programs have elevated so many children and families. I am thankful to Sen. Manny Diaz, and Reps. Randy Fine and Jason Fischer for sponsoring this inclusive legislation to ensure that all of See CHOICE, page 7A
road project list
By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
The Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will be identifying its list of priority projects at its June 10 meeting. The list includes projects that are included on the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) from 2022 to 2027, which includes projects that are funded and those not yet funded. The list also includes projects that are not part of the TIP, but are considered to be priorities by the MPO, which is responsible for updating the priority list, which in turns provides guidance to the Florida Department of Transportation, in developing its developing its tentative work program. During a workshop session, MPO Executive Director Carl Mikyska explained: “The first year of the TIP is actually part of See ROAD, page 7A