Pasco Schools creates exclusionary zone at Pasco Middle School; city and sheriff coordinated road closures during school hours

Mike Baumeister, chief of safety and emergency operations for Pasco Schools, told the Dade City Commission that the district has completed fencing and temporary road closures to create an exclusionary zone around Pasco Middle School.

Baumeister said the district set a roughly $170,000 project budget, put the plan out to bid, and began a 30‑day operational test starting May 1 to see how closures and detours would work. "The best way to do that is to create a barrier that makes everybody that has to go into the schools come through our front door," Baumeister said, describing the district's goal of channeling all campus visitors through vetted entry points.

The exclusionary zone includes closing certain interior roads during school hours and leaving alternate routes open for residents, Baumeister said. The district coordinated with local law enforcement and the city on detour routes; Baumeister said he spoke with the city manager and city attorney during the planning phase. He also said the district borrowed message boards from the sheriff’s office to announce closures. After the 30‑day test and summer break, Baumeister said the district planned to resume closures when school reopened in August and to buy additional wayfinding signage with project funds that staff will coordinate with the city to install.

Commissioners asked about safety features and emergency egress. Baumeister described the gates and push‑bar hardware used where exit egress is required and said he corrected a vendor installation error during construction: "...they put the gate on backwards. So all push bars lead out, not in, and they put the gate to come in," he said, and the vendor reversed the gate orientation. He also said the district kept the track facility open at night for residents as long as no students are on site.

On statutory compliance, Baumeister told the commission the district is "ahead of the curve": "So what we did actually meets and exceeds what they're looking for. So we created that exclusionary zone as which is what's in the statute and in the bill, and that's what we did with the Pasco Middle School." (He referenced the post‑2018 school safety legislative guidance discussed in the presentation.)

City commissioners raised concerns about neighborhood traffic shifting to other residential streets and about crossing guards; Baumeister said crossing guards remain part of the plan and that staff will monitor impacts and adjust signage and detours as needed. Chief Walters and Captain Tongate of local law enforcement were mentioned as coordination partners; Captain Tongate was reported to have received few complaints during the trial period.

The presentation concluded with staff offering to be the primary contact for business or resident questions during implementation and to buy and provide necessary signage for city installation.

Ending: The commission received the presentation and asked staff to continue coordinating with city departments and law enforcement on signage and traffic mitigation. No formal action or ordinance was taken at the meeting on the school fencing project.