Pasco County voters renewed the property tax that keeps teacher salaries competitive across the district, including at Wesley Chapel schools.

The same morning, the School Board voted 4-1 to shut down Fox Hollow Elementary in Port Richey. Both decisions landed on Nov. 3, delivering two major education outcomes in a single day.

The tax renewal preserves about $60 million a year in salary supplements for teachers and staff. Without it, employees faced losing roughly 12% of their pay, according to Pasco County Schools. The one-mill levy costs property owners $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value after the homestead exemption.

Tax renewal holds

Voters first approved the levy in 2022, and it was set to expire in June 2027. The state requires districts to renew such taxes every four years.

Some observers have criticized the use of referendums to cover salary expenses, arguing districts should not rely on short-term ballot measures for long-term costs, the Times reported. Several other Florida counties, including Polk, Broward and Miami-Dade, had similar measures on the ballot. Nearly all passed statewide.

Fox Hollow closes

On Election Day morning, the School Board approved a plan to close Fox Hollow Elementary at the end of this school year, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Board member Jessica Wright cast the lone dissent. She said the plan left too many unanswered questions about where Fox Hollow children will attend and how they will get there. Wright noted that 80% of the school's students — many of whom walk to school — do not receive district transportation.

Wright tried to separate the Fox Hollow closure from the renaming of Gulf Highlands Elementary and the relocation of West Pasco Education Academy. No other board member supported that motion.

Parents and staff who urged the board to reject the plan left the room in tears after the vote, the Times reported. Parent Samantha Vrbancic, who praised Wright for standing up for the school, told the Times she expected the outcome.

Vrbancic and others criticized the board for scheduling the vote on Election Day morning, when few people could attend. Susan Pigeon, who has substitute taught at Fox Hollow, told the Times families were still processing the proposal. Superintendent John Legg had offered the plan only two weeks earlier.

What changes

Legg pointed to three elementary schools in the 34668 ZIP code where enrollment had fallen at or below two-thirds capacity, the Times reported. Under the approved plan:

  • Fox Hollow closes. Its students will be reassigned to nearby campuses.
  • Schrader Elementary becomes a science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) center.
  • Gulf Highlands Elementary is renamed Highlands Exploratory Academy with a career-exploration focus.
  • Chasco K-8 adjusts its boundaries so Fox Hollow students can attend for all nine grade levels.

Board member Megan Harding, who previously taught at Fox Hollow and lives in the neighborhood, voted yes. She told the Times the board must deliver on what it promised.

The district expects to introduce new school zones for review in January, with a final vote on boundaries likely in March.