History of Education in Pasco County
PART SEVEN - VARIOUS ARTICLES
Landmark Sold to University
This article appeared in the Dade City Banner on May 8, 1969.The 57 year-old Hotel Edwinola has been sold to the East Coast University for a dormitory for men attending the co-educational school located just east of Brooksville off State Road 50.
A check of records at the Pasco County courthouse has revealed no record of the sale from Mrs. Myrtice Varn whose father built the hotel on north 9th Street in 1911: but Mrs. Varn and University President Andrew McAllister of Tampa both confirmed the sale.
McAllister also confirmed the rumored $55,000 sale price for the 35-bedroom three story building which faces one of the city's many landscaped parks and leads to the downtown business area.
Workmen were busy inside renovating the building and McAllister said the high-backed rocking chairs that line the front and side verandahs would perhaps remain intact "more in memory of the late President Kennedy than the Victorian age. "
McAllister, who described the university as "experimental," said it is the only one in this area that provides a graduate school for certain in-service professions seeking a doctor's degree in the fields of psychology, education, divinity and government.
The university is "Baptist" founded and located on Cedar Lane east of Brooksville.
Last year, approximately 125 persons from all over the United States attended the first sessions on which the 15 member faculty of "advisors" assisted professionals in their study and research.
The lack of accommodations in the Brooksville area for these students led to the purchase of the hotel here which McAllister said is a 20-minute drive from the campus.
Listing some seven restaurants within walking distance from the hotel, McAllister said the old kitchen and dining room which has been closed for many years, will not be restored.
The downstairs lounge and upstairs bedrooms he plans to have ready for the summer session which begins June 27 and ends Aug. 22 of which John Mattox, pastor of the Gardenville Baptist Church in Gibsonton is dean McAllister said.
The summer schedule including proposed general education seminars on current problems in education, public employees relations, changes in American education, and federal influence on education.
In the proposed general psychology seminars, discussions will be on methods psycho-therapy, theory, education, child and school psychology, test and diagnostic procedures and psychology as a career.
Under general information, which McAllister provided on the university, it lists it as a "pioneer institution" which was "Baptist founded" in 1947 and is chartered by the State of Florida with full power to grant degrees. It offers an experimental doctoral program designed for in-service professionals leading to the Ph. D., Ed. D., D. B. A. and D. Min. degrees.
McAllister said all graduate study is done through individual study and research and the student arranges his own program with his advisor.
"The uniqueness of the program lies in the fact the student can pursue research in the area of his choice and there are no required listed courses to be taken," McAllister said.
"The student is expected to thoroughly investigate the available research material in his field and 50 per cent of the required work for a degree may be done off campus," he said.
According to Mrs. Marie Huff, Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce, the purchase of the Hotel by McAllister has already begun to have an influence in the area. Mrs. Huff stated that she is beginning to get calls for housing for teachers and others who will have a direct connection with the East Coast University.
Information supplied to us reveals that classes, or sessions, will each have about 100 to 150 students and could very likely increase the over-all economy of the area considerably.
Students Seek Refund From University
This article appeared in the Dade City Banner on May 22, 1969.At least eight people are seeking a refund of monies they paid East Coast University to enroll in the school's doctorate program. According to information received by this newspaper, the eight paid a total of $7500 and are considering legal action to get a refund.
The monies were sent to East Coast University by seven school teachers and administrators in Illinois and a Connecticut teacher who planned to work toward their doctorate degrees this summer at the school near here.
Headed by Dr. Andrew McAllister, President, the school recently purchased the Edwinola here for use as a dormitory. Its campus is located east of Brooksville off State Road 50. The college bulletin for April 1969 says, "The University offers an experimental doctoral program designed for in-service professionals leading to Ph. D., Ed. D., D. B. A., and D. Min. degrees."
Raymond Berte, teacher from Farrington, Conn. contacted the newspaper and said he has sought without success in getting a refund of $500 from the school. He claims he sent the university $500 after he was accepted by the school to study.
According to an acceptance letter from Dr. John Mattox, school dean, which Berte showed this newspaper, a tuition deposit of $500 had to be paid "to reserve your place in the class" and was due "within five days of your official notification of acceptance. "
Berte said he heard of the school from a brochure a principal handed him while he was applying to other schools for study.
"The philosophy that this man is exposing is quite catchy," Berte stated. "It caught me. that's for sure, and it has caught a lot of people. "
The school, Berte said, "encourages your participation in taking courses at other universities. . . which is nice. It's nice to be able to do this. . . . to pick out the meat at other schools," so I applied and received acceptance in April.
After sending the $500 deposit, Berte wrote friends in St. Petersburg and ask them to see what the university was like. They "were kind of disturbed about what they found at the Brooksville campus. Berte said his friends wrote him. He was told, "there s nothing there. . . . a couple of buildings there, that's about it. Berte stated.
Therefore, he and his wife decided to visit their friends and check into the school, Berte said. They arrived on a Saturday and the next morning read a West Coast newspaper's story calling the school a diploma mill. "
Berte said he tried unsuccessfully to reach Doctor McAllister and Doctor Mattox. "I was stewing in my own juices. My wife and I were both really crushed. It was a hell of a kick, a kick in the gut, Berte said. "We were quite depressed. " Berte said he finally reached Doctor McAllister the following Wednesday. "He gave me a lot of static . he told me he couldn't personally okay the refunding of the money and he would have to take it up with a committee," Berte said.
The Connecticut teacher said he told Doctor McAllister he was going to attend another university, that he had received no services from East Coast University and wanted a refund of his money.
The school president replied it would be okay to go to another school that he could transfer his credits to East Coast University, Berte stated Berte's reply was that he didn't see the reasoning in paying East Coast University for "handling paperwork" in transferring credits earned at another school.
"You'll hear from me," Berte said he told Dr. McAllister. "My wife and I have really been put through the mill. This is something we wanted so bad that we could taste it. " Berte told this newspaper.
Seven other people, in Illinois, got grabbed by the brochure, same as I did. " Berte stated. They included five school principals, assistant supervisor of schools and supervisor of schools in the Gages Lake, and Grayslake, Ill., area.
One, Roy Horton, principal of a school in Libertyville, Ill., told this newspaper by telephone Monday the Illinois group was to hold a meeting later that day to decide upon a course of action.
"We are quite confused, we don't know what to do," Horton stated. The group "will try to plot a course that we think is best," Horton said. "There is no question about it . . . . we will seek legal counsel" if the group can get no satisfaction, Horton stated.
"We're not so sure at all that we want to come" to East Coast University and "we're not interested in it at all" Horton said, if the school is a "diploma mill" as described by the West Coast newspaper.
"All we want is our money back" if the school is not suitable, Horton stated. "All we can do is wait and see. "
He said two college guides, "Lovejoy's College Guide" and "Patterson's Educational Dictionary" rate East Coast University "very well and high. " However, the University of Florida has not accepted its credits while another university board in the state "has give it an A-OK approval," Horton said.
The college bulletin says that in addition to Lovejoy's and Patterson's, the school is listed in the "College Blue Book. "
The bulletin also says the university is a member of the Commission of Accreditation of the Humanities and the Performing Arts, of the Brooksville Chamber of Commerce, and the Evangelical Ministers and Churches International.
The Department of Religion it says "is accredited by the Southern Baptist Association for Clinical Pastoral Education and is approved by the American Protestant Hospital Association. "
Superintendent's Pay Is Hiked to $18,000 Yearly
This article appeared in the Dade City Banner on Nov. 6, 1969.The Pasco County School Board Tuesday agreed to raise the annual salary of School Supt. Chester W. Taylor from $17,000 to $18,000.
The Southern Association of Schools has ordered all counties which wish to remain accredited to provide for superintendents salaries in excess of any paid other county school personnel. A principal must receive more than any teacher working in his school.
Taylor's salary has been lower than those of Assistant Supt. Fred Marchman and Dade City High School Principal Wayne C. Malone.
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.
Offering Undergraduate Program
This article appeared in the Dade City Banner on Apr, 9, 1970.The rapidly - growing campus of East Coast University may offer two and four year undergraduate study beginning in September, the Dade City Banner learned this week.
Heretofore a strictly doctoral degree granting university. East Coast has just sent out "feelers" in the form of an undergraduate catalogue to various schools across the country.
"We're not really actively recruiting," explained Dr. Andrew McAllister, university chancellor, "but if we get enough of a response, we can begin the program in September. "
He said "enough" means "about 50. "
In a Banner interview. Dr. McAllister and Dr. John Maddox, president, revealed that the university was prepared to offer students who are residents of Pasco County tuition at half price. Regular tuition will be $1,500 a year and $750 a year for county students.
The university will grant two year associate degrees and a standard four - year degree Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Theory.
Dr. McAllister noted that the two - year Associate Degree was specifically geared to fill the current junior college void in Pasco County. "We're offering this as more of a community service, until a junior college program is available," said Dr. McAllister.
The doctors indicated that the program of instruction would be somewhat "unstructured" along the lines of their doctorate program. That means, while students would be supervised by an advisor and be required to take some on-campus classes, some of the work would be off-campus, there would be seminars and travel for those who wanted to take advantage of it.
East Coast University calls this, "Individual Prescribed. "
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.
Community College Began With No Walls
This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on June 10, 2005.By CAROL JEFFARES HEDMAN
DADE CITY - In 1967, the Florida Legislature designated Pasco-Hernando Community College to become the 28th and final link in Florida's community college system.
It would be five years before classes were held, and at that time, PHCC's president called it the "college without walls."
It wasn't until 1971 that a state survey team selected the Pasco County seat of Dade City for the community college. That year, the first board of trustees was appointed, and then-New Port Richey lawyer Wayne Cobb was chairman.
The board searched for a president, narrowing 300 applicants down to four before selecting Milton O. Jones, a dean at St. Petersburg Junior College. During the selection meeting, Cobb called Jones and offered him the job with a salary of $17,500, $5,000 less than he was making. Cobb needed an immediate answer.
Jones accepted but wanted to talk about the salary the next day. Before the trustees left that day, they agreed to pay him $22,500. The contract required Jones to teach a course called Personal Growth.
Starting a college would normally come with problems, but Jones also faced obstacles that had been brewing in Pasco County for years. The selection of Dade City as the site of the community college met with opposition from folks in west Pasco who thought that area was on the brink of a population boom.
Jones had a solution - a multicampus facility that would include sites in Dade City and New Port Richey in Pasco and Brooksville in Hernando County.
Despite opposition, state funding was approved in the fall of 1972 and after only four months as president, Jones managed to have the community college operating in Dade City, New Port Richey and Brooksville. However, PHCC was operating as what Jones called the "college without walls."
Classes at the east campus in Dade City were held at Saint Leo College, now Saint Leo University, and the First Baptist Church of Dade City.
In New Port Richey, classes were offered at the old Gulf High School and in Brooksville, a vacant Gateway Furniture Store, served as classroom space.
Growth Continues
Enrollment the first semester was 712. By fall 1973, enrollment had risen by 200; by fall 1973, enrollment had reached 1,245, a 75 percent increase in 1 1/2 years.
Construction on the east campus began in 1973 on 100 acres of ranch land purchased from local pharmacist Charles Touchton. The first phase of the project was ready for fall classes in 1975. Buildings have been added. In 2002, 20 acres were purchased for a new entrance.
The west campus site also was selected in 1973, an easy decision with the donation of 140 acres by rancher Alric Pottberg. Construction began in 1975, and the campus opened in 1976. Buildings such as the modern performing arts center have been added. In 1998, the district offices moved to the west campus.
In 1974, the board of trustees received 100 acres of state- owned property in Brooksville. The pasture once was slated for a state mental hospital. Construction at Brooksville started in 1976, and the facility opened in 1977.
A Spring Hill center opened in 1988 on land leased from the PHCC Foundation - founded in 1975 by Jones and Cobb, now a Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court judge, to raise money for programs and activities where financial support was unavailable through other sources. Ten years later, the state Legislature approved $1 million to buy land to develop a full-service center in Spring Hill.
PHCC is seeking land in Wesley Chapel for a permanent site. Afternoon and evening PHCC classes begin in August for the fall semester at Wesley Chapel High School.
Jones retired as president in 1994, and although trustees accepted applications from across the country, they selected a man who had come to PHCC in its first year to recruit students.
Robert Judson Jr. was a student at the all-black Southern University in Louisiana during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Concerned for his safety, he dropped out of school. He returned home and married his high school sweetheart.
He enlisted in the military, and after serving in the Army overseas, Judson enrolled at Florida A&M University in 1966 to study European history. He graduated in 1969 and began teaching while working toward a master's degree in counseling at Florida A&M, which he completed in 1972.
Skeptic Accepts Job
It was at that time that a professor recommended Judson to Jones, who was searching for a student recruiter. The 30-year-old was skeptical but accepted the job.
In 1976, Judson took a sabbatical to earn a doctorate in education. He advanced to dean of the east campus the next year, to provost in 1983 and to executive vice president in 1986.
Judson retired as the second PHCC president in January. He was replaced by Katherine M. Johnson.
Johnson had been president of Nash Community College in Rocky Mount, N.C., since 2000. Before that she had been at Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce for 17 years where she worked her way from a guidance counselor to vice president.
Johnson and her two predecessors participated in graduation ceremonies last month. There were 68 in the first graduating class at PHCC in 1974; this year, there were 525.
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.
Resolution
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION OF PASCO COUNTY, FLORIDA, NAMING AND DESIGNATING THE PUBLIC SCHOOL LOCATED AT DREXEL, FLORIDA, AS THE JAMES WILTON SANDERS MEMORIAL SCHOOL.WHEREAS, the construction of a new five-room elementary school has been completed at Drexel, Florida, in Pasco County, and
WHEREAS, the erection of this public school building will prove of great benefit to the citizens of Drexel and to all of Pasco County, Florida, and
WHEREAS, the erection of such consolidated public school at Drexel, Florida was initiated by and through the unselfish and untiring effort and foresight of Judge James Wilton Sanders, one of the leading educators and outstanding citizens of Pasco County, Florida, and
WHEREAS, this Board deems it a fitting and proper tribute to the memory of the said James Wilton Sanders to name said public school located at Drexel, Florida, the JAMES WILTON SANDERS MEMORIAL SCHOOL in respect to the memory of this splendid citizen of our County,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION OF PASCO COUNTY, FLORIDA:
That the public school at Drexel, Florida, shall from henceforth be known and designated as the JAMES WILTON SANDERS MEMORIAL SCHOOL in respectful tribute to the memory of the said James Wilton Sanders.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be spread upon the permanent minutes of this Board.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution be read at the dedication ceremonies upon the occasion of the opening of the said James Wilton Sanders memorial School and that a suitable plaque with the name and designation of said school, as herein provided, be placed in or upon said school so as to permanently confirm the name and designation of said school.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be certified by the Secretary of this Board and delivered to the Principal of the said James Wilton Sanders Memorial School. with the instruction that said copy of said Resolution be retained among the records of said school.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be certified by the Secretary of this Board under the seal of this Board, and by him forwarded to the members of the family of the said James Wilton Sanders.
DONE AND RESOLVED in Regular Meeting this 16th day of August, A. D. 1948.
BOARD OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION OF PASCO COUNTY, FLORIDA
By JAS. F. CROLEY,
ChairmanThe above and foregoing Resolution was introduced by Board Member P. S. Tyson who moved its adoption and the said motion was seconded by Board Member E. H. Kirkland. Upon vote the said motion was duly carried and declared passed and adopted by the Chairman.
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