Fewer students will attend Gulf next year

GULF HIGH SCHOOL, Dec. 15, 2008.—At a meeting of the leadership committee this afternoon Mr. Knobl said that the opening of Anclote High School is projected to reduce Gulf’s enrollment from the current 1750 students to 1450 next year. And our enrollment is further projected to drop to 1350 and 1250 in the following two years.

Anclote High School will open in August 2009 next to Paul R. Smith Middle School in Holiday.

Mr. Knobl said that the current projection is that Gulf will lose 12 teacher allocations next year, although it is possible the number will turn out to be as few as 9 or 10. He said he believed that the school will not lose any guidance counselors or assistant principals.

The map in the photo shows the proposed attendance boundaries for next year for Gulf (in green), Anclote (in orange), and Mitchell (in yellow). The proposed southern boundary for Gulf next year is just south of Gulf Harbors to the west of U. S. 19 and along State Road 54 to the east of U. S. 19. The east-west border between Anclote and Mitchell is the Anclote River. However, no seniors will attend Anclote High School in the first year. The school board will vote on the proposed boundary early next year.

Mr. Knobl said that Mitchell High School is projected to lose about 900 students next year. He said he looks forward to the smaller student population at Gulf, which, he said, will allow for greater contact with students by administrators and teachers.

Mr. Knobl said he will do a similar presentation during the faculty meeting on Jan. 5 and also provide information to the faculty in an email.

Another new high school, as yet unnamed, is scheduled to open in August 2010 in Hudson, near State Road 52 and Chicago Ave.

Trivia: When Anclote High School opens, Gulf High School will lose its 87-year-long distinction of being alphabetically the first high school in Pasco County. However, it will continue to have the shortest name (14 letters) of any public school in Pasco County. The name Anclote is one of the oldest place names in Florida, dating back to the 1600s when the Spanish called the islands Cabo de Anclote.