Pasco schools win $500,000 Bloomberg planning grant to design high‑school health care pathways

Superintendent Legg announced that the Pasco Education Foundation has received a $500,000 planning grant from the Bloomberg Foundation to design high‑school health-care career pathways in Pasco County. AdventHealth and AdventHealth University also committed funds to support the planning phase, Superintendent Legg said, and the planning effort will be led by district staff and partners for approximately one year.

The planning grant funds are intended to create a proposal to compete for a larger implementation award estimated at about $25 million (roughly $5 million per year over five years) to develop career-connected learning programs that would prepare Pasco students for employment in the region’s growing health-care sector. "We were awarded phase 1 of a grant from the Bloomberg Foundation for health care pathways," Legg said, adding that AdventHealth "has agreed to step up and donate significant amount of money as well for the planning phase."

Legg framed the effort as a way to create local pathways to employment so the district’s graduating students are better prepared to fill health-care jobs that are expected to expand in the county. He described a planned workshop for late August or early September to present partners and the planning timeline to the board and community.

No formal board action was recorded on the grant announcement at the meeting; staff said they will convene partners and present planning details in a future workshop. Board members expressed support for the planning phase and said they look forward to details about program design and employer commitments.