History of Education in Pasco County
PART SEVEN - VARIOUS ARTICLES
School Board OKs Bond Issue
This article appeared in the Dade City Banner on April 9, 1970.The Pasco County School Board agreed on a two-phase $16-million bond issue in one of its most productive meetings in weeks Tuesday, but now is faced with when it can get it before the voters and how to sell it to them.
With Supt. of Schools Chester W. Taylor Jr. urging "It's time to put this issue before the people of Pasco County . . . If we don't I don't know what we're going to do next year," the board finally tackled the problem head-on.
One by one, board members expressed positive reasons to get the issue of 3. 49 mills for the first phase and 2.09 mills taxation for the second before the voters.
They were originally considering a three-phase sale of bonds, for the five year construction program but Tuesday switched to a two-phase sale of $10 million, $6 million. This occurred mainly because members have not been able to decide on priorities, because of pressing construction needs in all areas of the county.
In the $10 million phase new schools that would be built are new Gulf High School, new Zephyrhills junior - senior high, Lacoochee elementary and West Pasco elementary.
School board attorney George Dayton has been instructed to draw up a resolution that must be approved by the State Dept. of Education, then the board would need to draw up a resolution calling for a referendum with at least 30 days notice.
The bulk of the work for the five-year construction program was done by an 11-man advisory committee appointed last year.
The committee was appointed after the school board decided not to put a $9. 9 million bond issue to the voters because they were afraid it would not pass.
Rodney Cox, Supt. of Schools, Dies In Office
This article appeared in the West Pasco Chronicle on Mar. 22, 1973.Rodney B. Cox, Superintendent of Pasco County Schools, died Tuesday morning, a day after his 48th birthday, at Lakeland General Hospital.
He is survived by his wife and 3 children. The Board, in the memory of Cox, voted unanimously to name the soon to be built Shady Hills Elementary School, The Rodney B. Cox Memorial Elementary School. They also adopted a resolution commemorating Cox as "having genuine concern for the students and the school system" and one who maintained "a constant quest for the improvement of the schools."
A native of Kentucky, Cox came to Pasco County in 1954 as a physical education teacher at Dade City Grammar School. He later became principal of Trilby Elementary School and then principal of Dade City Elementary.
He ran unsuccessfully for Superintendent of Schools in 1968 and was defeated by Chester Taylor.
In November of 1972, running on the Republican ticket, he defeated Robert Marsh, Principal of Gulf Senior High, for the superintendent position, and formally took office in January of 1973, only to serve 77 days.
The Board sent a letter to Governor Reubin Askew notifying him of Cox's death. It is Askew who must make the appointment of an acting superintendent who will hold office until the next election in 1976.
Thomas Weightman, who is presently serving as Assistant to the Superintendent, was given certain special powers until the nature of Cox's illness was resolved. Weightman now loses the authority to sign legal documents and payroll checks, which makes the appointment of an interim superintendent imperative.
Zephyrhills Principal New School Superintendent
This article appeared in the West Pasco Chronicle on Mar. 29, 1973.In a move that was somewhat surprising and certainly disappointing to many in West Pasco, Raymond Stewart, principal of Zephyrhills High School, was selected by Governor Reubin Askew Tuesday to be Superintendent of Schools for Pasco County. He replaces Rodney Cox, who died last week and will serve at least until the elections of 1974.
The choice was disappointing to many for at least three reasons: the school board unanimously recommended Thomas Weightman who has been filling the role for the past three months of Cox's illness; Cox, who was elected by the people of the county last November, chose Weightman for the job when he knew he would not live; Stewart is said to be less than fully committed to the 45-15 program which the school board has decided to implement this July.
However, the make up of the Advisory Committee, with three members from Zephyrhills, two more from the eastern side of the county, and only two from the west, suggested the possibility that a man from the west may have slim chance of being named.
Moreover, in terms of practical politics, Chester Taylor, former Superintendent of Pasco Schools and known to be a close friend of Florida's Secretary of Education Floyd Christian, is said to have favored Ray Stewart for the job.
While the vote was not unanimous by the board, two names having been sent to the Governor, members of the minority view expressed confidence that Stewart could do a good job.
Stewart, who is 43 years old, was formerly a teacher and coach in the Manatee County school system. He has four children and has lived in Pasco County nine years.
Ceremony to Honor Principal of All-Black School
This article appeared in the St. Petersburg Times on Feb. 22, 1990.By BRYANNA LATOOF
The late Vera Lucas Goodwin had a favorite saying that she routinely drummed into her pupils' heads.
"As long as you're green, you will grow," she would say. "But when you get ripe you get rotten."
It wasn't until years later that Juanita Harpe understood the full meaning of that proverb.
"She meant you can grow; you can become whatever you want to be. But when you get the big head, nobody could tell you anything. You know it all," said Ms. Harpe, a former pupil at Floyd Academy.
Floyd Academy, Lacoochee's former all-black elementary school, is nothing more today than a slab of concrete. But the memory of Mrs. Goodwin, the school's last principal, fared better.
Today, her portrait will be added to the wall at Lacoochee Elementary that already is adorned with the pictures of that school's past principals. In honor of Mrs. Goodwin and Black History Month, a ceremony is scheduled for this morning as the portrait is hung.
"On the wall we have three former principals going back to 1934," said Renee Sedlack, Lacoochee Elementary's current principal. "Then I discovered that there was another school in the Lacoochee area called Floyd Academy. That was the black school until it was integrated prior to 1970.
"We felt that because descendants of people who went to Floyd are students here, it would be nice to include their principal here," Mrs. Sedlack said.
School officials invited Mrs. Goodwin's brother, Elwyn Lucas, to be on hand for the ceremony. When Lucas hangs the portrait of his sister next to the other principals, about a half-dozen people, including Superintendent Tom Weightman, will witness the event.
Mrs. Sedlack said school officials decided to wait until this month, in honor of Black History Month, to hang the portrait.
"I think it really kind of ties everything together," Mrs. Sedlack said. "Years ago, people didn't have the opportunity to be educated together."
In addition to her duties as principal from 1947 to 1970, Mrs. Goodwin taught music and chorus classes during her tenure.
"We would go out singing, and she'd form the little chorus group, and we'd go to the radio station in Dade City and several places. We'd go and perform. She was terrific, a very good person. She loved kids," Ms. Harpe said.
Mrs. Goodwin had no children besides the pupils at her school.
Ms. Harpe, whose 11-year-old daughter attends fifth grade at Lacoochee Elementary, said she tells her daughter about days gone by, about being black during a time when water fountains had signs proclaiming "colored" and "white."
But her daughter lives in a different time and basically "doesn't know any differently," Ms. Harpe said.
"I think (the system) is working," she said. "I think like everything else, there's always room for improvement. But we'll get there."
Mrs. Goodwin's brother said he is flattered that his sister will be the focus of today's ceremony.
"It shows a little appreciation for the years she put in and some of the things she did for the school and the Lacoochee community," he said.
Respected and Beloved Educator Dies
This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on July 6, 1995.By TIFFANY ANDERSON
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Retired educator Mark St. Clair, whose lessons of respect and hard work stuck with his students decades after they graduated, died Tuesday. He was 90.
"At the school reunions you could always tell where he was sitting, because there was always a long line of people waiting to see him," said Lorise Abraham, 66, of Dade City, who once sat in St. Clair's ninth-grade classroom.
"I don't know what made him so different. He just had a way of reaching young people."
St. Clair was born in Statesboro, Ga., to two educators. His mother taught in Georgia until the family moved, and his father taught at Gulf High School in New Port Richey. St. Clair Athletic Field at the Schwettman Education Center is named for him.
The family moved to Dade City in 1919. Mark St. Clair graduated from Florida Southern College in Lakeland in 1928.
He taught in Lacoochee and spent 20 years as principal there, and served as Pasco County school superintendent for eight years in the 1940s and 1950s. He spent 10 years as an assistant principal in Leesburg. Before he retired in 1968, St. Clair served in Florida schools for 40 years.
"When you left his class, you knew what he was trying to teach you," Lorise Abraham said.
He was "never mad, never mean, but firm," added her husband, Lewis Abraham, also one of St. Clair's students.
St. Clair married his first wife, teacher Alice Mullin in 1926. She died in 1960. He married Helen Jackson Swartsel in November 1962.
A lifelong Methodist, he taught adult Bible classes for 35 years.
He is survived by his wife, Helen of New Port Richey; a son, James H. of St. Louis; a sister, Mary Lou Knight of New Port Richey; and two grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at North/Meadowlawn Funeral Home, 4244 Madison St., New Port Richey.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church of New Port Richey. Burial be in Meadowlawn Memorial Garden.
Planting To Honor Teaching Veteran Sunday
This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on June 11, 1999.By LORIE JEWELL
LAND O' LAKES - The area's golden anniversary and a longtime teacher will be celebrated Sunday.
When old-timers reminisce about the days of one-room schoolhouses, talk invariably turns to Gertrude Godwin.
Her teaching career started and ended in the Land O' Lakes area, back when communities were known as Ehren, Denham, Drexel and Myrtle. Not many schoolchildren in the 1930s, '40s, '50s, '60s and early '70s didn't have Godwin for a teacher.
Her 40-plus years in education will be honored Sunday with a tree planting at Sanders Elementary, where she spent her last years in the classroom.
Dedication of a magnolia tree in Godwin's name is a highlight of a daylong celebration commemorating the 50th anniversary of a vote to name the area "Land O' Lakes."
The Denham-Drexel Civic Association called a town meeting June 13, 1949, to decide on a name for the area.
"The old Denham-Drexel community has grown so fast that it was deemed expedient to select a new name more descriptive and appropriate for this prosperous and progressive community," reads an explanation of the vote in a June 1949 Lutz Civic Review newsletter.
Sunday's festivities will start at noon at the community center on U.S. 41, just north of Hale Road. The free event is open to the public. Folks are encouraged to dress as people did 50 years ago.
Entertainment, children's games and a fish fry also are on tap. The advance cost of a dinner, served from 1 to 5 p.m., is $5 for adults and $2 for children. Tickets at the event are $6 for adults and $3 for children. Call the chamber of commerce at (813) 996-5522 for information.
A pie- and cake-baking contest will be another highlight. Entries will be accepted in the front room of the community center from 12:30 to 1 p.m., with judging at 1:30 p.m. Winners will be announced at 3:30 p.m., just before a big birthday cake is cut.
Elizabeth MacManus plans to be at the community center, too, selling the book she wrote with her daughter, Susan. It's called "Citrus, Sawmills, Critters & Crackers; Life in Early Lutz and Central Pasco County."
"It's going to be a good old-fashioned picnic and fun," says Karla Turcotte, Land O' Lakes' honorary mayor. "We're hoping for a good turnout and good weather."
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Heritage Park Foundation, a nonprofit group formed last year to create a historical museum and park on the property surrounding the community center.
State Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, tried to secure state funding this year to give the group a boost, but the project didn't make the governor's final cut.
Foundation members are hoping for another shot next year.
"It was disappointing. We were looking for that money to be a springboard to the start of a major fundraising drive," said Tim Hayes, vice president of the foundation. "I think a lot of people are waiting to see if this is really going to happen before they contribute. Getting state money will show that this is going to happen."
Plans call for a man-made pond in the park, surrounded by a walkway and small historic buildings. Inside the buildings, Hayes hopes to see memorabilia.
THE TREE DEDICATION will be at 5 p.m. at Sanders Elementary, on School Road behind the community center. Godwin's daughter, Ginny McCumber of Deltona, plans to attend. So does Godwin's nephew, Melt, a native of the area, and his wife, Alice Joy.
McCumber, 73, was one of hundreds of students her mother taught throughout the decades.
Before Sanders was built in 1948, the area had three schools: Tucker, just south of State Road 52 and U.S. 41; Drexel, off U.S. 41 just north of Ehren Cutoff; and Denham, also called Myrtle-Denham, at State Road 54 and U.S. 41.
At one time or another, Godwin taught at all three schools.
"She was a disciplinarian," McCumber recalls. "And she was always cool. Everyone could be hot and sweaty, but mother always looked like she just stepped out of Vogue" magazine.
Ted Williams, a former county property appraiser, was another student. He eulogized Godwin at her funeral three years ago. She died just a few months before her 90th birthday.
"All her life, she was very prim, very proper," Williams says. "She was just one of those old-fashioned teachers."
Godwin was known for the plays and pageants her students performed, especially the annual Christmas production. Williams remembers spending at least a half of each school day, for two to three weeks before the holiday, practicing for the play.
"People came from far and wide," says Williams. "They were that good."
If anyone deserves recognition for contributing to the early development of the Land O' Lakes area, it's Godwin, many believe.
"There aren't too many lives here she didn't touch," says Melt Godwin.
Former Superintendent Chester Taylor Dies
This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on Aug. 7, 2005.By RONNIE BLAIR and MONICA SCANDLEN
DADE CITY - Chester W. Taylor, the former schools superintendent who oversaw desegregation of Pasco County schools, died Saturday. He was 80.
Taylor was born in Sanford and was raised in Dade City. A combat veteran of World War II, he was recalled during the Korean War and served as an infantry training officer at Fort Jackson, S.C.
Most of all, Taylor was an educator.
He served as Pasco school superintendent from Jan. 8, 1957, until his resignation Aug. 31, 1972, according to school district records.
An elementary school in Zephyrhills bears his name.
"He was a man that everybody looked up to," said his youngest son, Dade City veterinarian Chet Taylor, 48.
"Even in the political life, he was very fair. He was an astute educator. He was at the wheel taking this county through the biggest times."
The elder Taylor was superintendent in the 1960s when Pasco County began to end segregation in schools.
In a 1998 interview with the Tampa Tribune, Taylor told of venturing out to the woods of Lacoochee in the mid-1960s where he met with Ku Klux Klan members in a one-room cabin to explain the desegregation plan.
Taylor said he told Klan members their children and black children were going to attend school together, and it didn't matter whether they liked it.
For the children's sake, he wanted their support.
"I wasn't the champion of desegregation," Taylor said in 1998. "I was just trying to do it without problems."
He said there were predictions of widespread violence in Pasco, but that never materialized, although there were heated words and a few scuffles. He also said people threw dead chickens and rotten grapefruit on his front porch.
In the early 1960s, Taylor hired Tom Weightman as a teacher. Weightman later served as a principal under Taylor, then spent 22 years as superintendent. He recalled that Taylor was easy to work with, knew everybody and was very understanding.
"He was at the beginning of the transformation from a rural to suburban district and I think he probably set the district on a good course from that point on," Weightman said. "He allowed people to do their jobs and be able to manage in an organized way."
After Taylor's wife, Vera Russell Taylor, died in 1970, he was left to raise their four children alone, and he did an excellent job, said Weightman's wife, Jean Larkin Weightman, a member of the Pasco County School Board.
"They are the most devoted, loving children you have ever seen," she said. "It's a tribute to him that his children adore him so much."
Chet Taylor, owner of Dade City Animal Clinic, said his father led by example.
"He taught us to be fair with people and always do what you think is right," the younger Taylor said. "You can walk down the streets of Dade City and mention Chester W. Taylor and there would be very few that would have anything but praise."
After Taylor resigned as superintendent, he worked for Saint Leo College, now Saint Leo University. He coordinated the real estate program, then became dean of the the college's Military Education Program, which grew to resident centers in five states. He retired from Saint Leo in 1988.
Taylor's health had declined in recent years, and after living with his son, Rusty Taylor, and his wife, Kathy, in Port St. Lucie, he recently moved back to Dade City. Taylor died at Heritage Park Care Center.
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