Pasco school rezoning challenge to get quick turnaround

A state administrative law judge will take testimony in the latest challenge to Pasco County's school attendance zone boundary changes at 9:30 a.m. May 17.

The assignment came before the School Board has held its final vote on the superintendent's recommendation.

Board members are scheduled to deliberate at 9 a.m. Tuesday and then vote. They held a public hearing on April 17, and the staff conducted a workshop on the proposal a month earlier.

That didn't stop parent Jim Stanley from filing his complaint, arguing that the board already had run afoul of the state rule making law that affects school zone changes.

He asked for quick action, aiming to stop the proposal in its tracks. He got an early appointment, but also a possible surprise in the naming of the same judge who ruled against Stanley's 2017 complaint over similar issues.

Administrative judge D.R. Alexander has issued some rules of his own for how the sides must proceed leading up to the hearing. He's asked for a pre-hearing stipulation on all agreed upon information, to speed the process, and given the parties until May 9 to make any requests for discovery.

The school district has reserved the hearing room for two full days.