Schools Archive = Old Posts
SHS Town/Gown Noise Issue: Yes, living next to a high school, one expects "the usual" sounds of students, class bells & PA announcements, stadium and sporting events, etc. But one ongoing neighborhood issue that has gotten worse is the overly-loud PA systems at Sarasota High School, including from stadium, baseball field & batting cage, and softball field. Loud music to entertain the students during athletic practices?
As of Feb 2024, Steve M., a TamiSola resident, has been in communication and working with School staff and City staff over the last YEAR AND A HALF (so far!) in an attempt to get SHS to reduce some of this noise encroachment on the neigborhood. He has even gathered signatures on a petition from over 100 local residents concerned about this issue. Below is a report from SHS Principal Ryan on measures the school has taken, so far, to remediate this issue. Thanks to Steve; he got this done!!!
In Summer 2024, Principal Chase & his administrators have also been working on testing and adjusting volume levels at the football stadium PA system, as they noted below.
Feb 22, 2024 Sarasota High School's Efforts to Mitigate Sound Production
The following efforts have been made since August of 2022 in response to a citizen's complaints about and requests to mitigate the sound generated at Sarasota High School's campus:
- Several meetings, phone calls, and emails to discuss, review, and address concerns
- Lowered bell/announcement volume to a minimum level while still maintaining a standard for safe emergency operations; had it triple checked
- Softball speakers redirected toward center field
- Softball sound system bass frequency turned off (citizen requested to do this himself with softball coach)
- Softball team uses portable speaker during practice instead of stadium speaker to alleviate sound produced
- Baseball speakers repositioned toward center field and speaker facing guest stands repositioned to face the ground
- Noise barrier installed around Chiller Plant on East side of campus -- 3/4 around perimeter to still allow for trucks and other access through fencing
- Communication with stadium announcers to keep volume levels at minimum
- Several instances where citizen called Safety and Security or emailed while administration was campus
- Removed portable speaker and installed new lock in batting cages to prevent access during non-school hours
- Individual conversations with students who rev engines and cause disruption driving down Tami Sola St.
- Coaches shared contact number with citizen to address concerns in real time
- Principal Jones provided the city noise ordinance and instructed citizen to download a decibel-measuring application to provide information any time the school has violated the decibel-level
- Worked with district IT staff to review speaker system in football, baseball, and softball stadiums to identify any upgrades or replacement equipment needed
- District IT staff ordered new mixers for baseball and softball that will allow more robust level limiting (awaiting delivery)
- District IT staff hired third party audio professional to provide training to SHS staff on the operation of audio equipment
- District IT staff removed bass frequency from voice channel at baseball field and minimized on music channel
- District IT staff tested baseball audio system while citizen was at home for real-time feedback.
As of Feb 2024, Steve M., a TamiSola resident, has been in communication and working with School staff and City staff over the last YEAR AND A HALF (so far!) in an attempt to get SHS to reduce some of this noise encroachment on the neigborhood. He has even gathered signatures on a petition from over 100 local residents concerned about this issue. Below is a report from SHS Principal Ryan on measures the school has taken, so far, to remediate this issue. Thanks to Steve; he got this done!!!
In Summer 2024, Principal Chase & his administrators have also been working on testing and adjusting volume levels at the football stadium PA system, as they noted below.
Feb 22, 2024 Sarasota High School's Efforts to Mitigate Sound Production
The following efforts have been made since August of 2022 in response to a citizen's complaints about and requests to mitigate the sound generated at Sarasota High School's campus:
- Several meetings, phone calls, and emails to discuss, review, and address concerns
- Lowered bell/announcement volume to a minimum level while still maintaining a standard for safe emergency operations; had it triple checked
- Softball speakers redirected toward center field
- Softball sound system bass frequency turned off (citizen requested to do this himself with softball coach)
- Softball team uses portable speaker during practice instead of stadium speaker to alleviate sound produced
- Baseball speakers repositioned toward center field and speaker facing guest stands repositioned to face the ground
- Noise barrier installed around Chiller Plant on East side of campus -- 3/4 around perimeter to still allow for trucks and other access through fencing
- Communication with stadium announcers to keep volume levels at minimum
- Several instances where citizen called Safety and Security or emailed while administration was campus
- Removed portable speaker and installed new lock in batting cages to prevent access during non-school hours
- Individual conversations with students who rev engines and cause disruption driving down Tami Sola St.
- Coaches shared contact number with citizen to address concerns in real time
- Principal Jones provided the city noise ordinance and instructed citizen to download a decibel-measuring application to provide information any time the school has violated the decibel-level
- Worked with district IT staff to review speaker system in football, baseball, and softball stadiums to identify any upgrades or replacement equipment needed
- District IT staff ordered new mixers for baseball and softball that will allow more robust level limiting (awaiting delivery)
- District IT staff hired third party audio professional to provide training to SHS staff on the operation of audio equipment
- District IT staff removed bass frequency from voice channel at baseball field and minimized on music channel
- District IT staff tested baseball audio system while citizen was at home for real-time feedback.
Parent pickup traffic enforcement. ACTUALLY, enforcement is no longer happening! As of January 2025, the City installed "no stopping" signs on Hatton to prohibit drivers from blocking Hatton Street by School Ave, a location that has, for years, gotten totally blockaded by parent pickup line for SHS in the afternoons on school days, often from about 1:30-2:30pm; they said they would enforce, but that hasn't happened, and the school does not enforce it, either. The City claimed they would also give attention to similar problem further East on Hatton/Shade by Alta Vista Elementary School. SHS has 3 student pickup spots: Bahia Vista lot, School Ave pickup circle, and US301 lot by Sarasota Art Museum; it's a big school, and there's a lot of car pickups.
2024-2026 SHS construction alert: Hatton Street DEC 2026 Update: Project is WRAPPING UP!!!
Notice all the orange Gilbane fencing along Hatton Street (canal-side, which is county-owned land); they have fenced off that shell lot west of Shade (across from the batting cage), plus the grass field east of Shade, to use for staging materials & equipment, worker parking, and other construction needs, for the duration of the project. No, nothing's being "built" there, just construction staging. In progress: the long-planned major renovation of buildings at Sarasota High, East Campus: new HVAC (air conditioning) system. Some classes are held in the portable classrooms; they have to do this in six phases; expected to take 2+? years.
Notice all the orange Gilbane fencing along Hatton Street (canal-side, which is county-owned land); they have fenced off that shell lot west of Shade (across from the batting cage), plus the grass field east of Shade, to use for staging materials & equipment, worker parking, and other construction needs, for the duration of the project. No, nothing's being "built" there, just construction staging. In progress: the long-planned major renovation of buildings at Sarasota High, East Campus: new HVAC (air conditioning) system. Some classes are held in the portable classrooms; they have to do this in six phases; expected to take 2+? years.
FOR THE FUTURE: At the Aug 15, 2023 School Board Workshop, Jody Dumas presented schools updates including a brief summary of the Sarasota High School Master Plan. (You can view this on youtube, find it from the School Dept website., starting about 1hr & 50 minutes into the 3-hr video.)
Several significant changes are in the works (over the next few years -- no definite timeline yet): Tennis Courts, Performing Arts Center.
September 2023: they constructed a fire road east to west across the northernmost edge of West Campus, for emergency vehicle access, paved the curb cuts and new public sidewalk sections there, reconstructed the little drainage swale impacted by fire road construction. Also, they are beginning a major HVAC (air conditioning) rehab of buildings on East Campus -- which is the reason they installed the "trailer park," that village of portable classrooms. Three grand oaks, which were deemed "in decline," were cut down to clear this corner of campus.
Several significant changes are in the works (over the next few years -- no definite timeline yet): Tennis Courts, Performing Arts Center.
September 2023: they constructed a fire road east to west across the northernmost edge of West Campus, for emergency vehicle access, paved the curb cuts and new public sidewalk sections there, reconstructed the little drainage swale impacted by fire road construction. Also, they are beginning a major HVAC (air conditioning) rehab of buildings on East Campus -- which is the reason they installed the "trailer park," that village of portable classrooms. Three grand oaks, which were deemed "in decline," were cut down to clear this corner of campus.
New Tennis Courts; old tennis courts...
SHS used to have 8 tennis courts, open to the public during nonschool-hours. In 2013 they were demolished to build a bus loop, separate from parent pickup loop.* Apparently there is a dire shortage of tennis courts throughout Sarasota (many closures), and the students are having trouble accessing play time at other facilities. They HAD been proposing to build on public greenspace in nearby Payne Park, which drew community opposition, but came up with, instead, an on-campus location.
Beach volleyball teams & facilities are all the rage these days.
*See Observer Article, HT Article, MoveOn Petition...
SHS used to have 8 tennis courts, open to the public during nonschool-hours. In 2013 they were demolished to build a bus loop, separate from parent pickup loop.* Apparently there is a dire shortage of tennis courts throughout Sarasota (many closures), and the students are having trouble accessing play time at other facilities. They HAD been proposing to build on public greenspace in nearby Payne Park, which drew community opposition, but came up with, instead, an on-campus location.
Beach volleyball teams & facilities are all the rage these days.
*See Observer Article, HT Article, MoveOn Petition...
SHS New Principal effective Sep 2023, Former Principal David Jones has moved on to a leadership position within the School District. New principal is Ryan Chase. ryan.chase@sarasotacountyschools.net (941) 955-0181