PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Pasco County school officials voted Tuesday night to approve the consolidation and conversion of schools.
Deputy Superintendent Elizabeth Kuhn confirmed the motion for the consolidation of Pasco Elementary School and Pasco Middle School to Pasco K-8, as well as the conversion of Lacoochee Elementary School to Lacoochee K-8.
Back in 2024, Tampa Bay 28 reporter Mary O'Connell covered the Pasco County School Board proposing to close and combine three schools at the time.
The conversion of Pasco Elementary School and Pasco Middle School to become a K-8 school is recommended to begin in the 2026-27 school year. And at the end of the 2025-26 school year, both Pasco Elementary School and Pasco Middle School will closed, followed by a conversion and re-opening of Pasco K-8 starting in the 2026-27 school year.
The motion sets the newly-zoned school to start in the 2026-27 school year. For students who do not want to attend their zoned school, an application for school choice will be available via the Pasco Pathways process, in accordance with the District’s School Choice Controlled Open Enrollment plan.
The conversion of Lacoochee Elementary School to Lacoochee K-8 is recommended to be in place for the 2027-28 school year, starting with adding sixth grade in 2027-28, followed by a seventh grade in 2028-29. Then, an eighth grade will be added in 2029-30.
The motion passed unanimously.
Son remembers mother who was one of four victims killed at Sarasota County home
Olga Greinert was one of four people shot and killed at a home in Sarasota County on February 10. Eldar Greinert, Olga's youngest child, recounts to Tampa Bay 28 reporter Julie Salomone the moments deputies broke the news of her death.
