State education officials this week signed off on a plan that hands a Tampa consulting firm the keys to campus-level improvement work at Gulf Middle School in New Port Richey. After four straight D grades, the school is shifting from a district-managed turnaround to an external-operator model meant to fast-track gains in instruction, attendance and behavior. Under the deal, the firm will embed coaches and leaders on campus and answer to both district and state monitors.
State Board Signs Off
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the State Board this week approved Pasco County's plan to bring a Tampa firm, identified in state materials as MGT, into Gulf Middle. The move formally shifts the school from a district-run turnaround to outside oversight after multiple years of low grades, with the goal of providing more intensive, on-site support than the district has managed on its own.
The Contract And MGT's Role
Pasco's master services agreement with MGT Impact Solutions, LLC appears in the department's records. The Florida Department of Education filing lists MGT's Tampa address at 4320 West Kennedy Blvd. and shows an effective date of Dec. 2, 2025. The agreement sets up the legal framework for future statements of work under which MGT will supply leadership coaching, subject-area specialists and monitoring services to the district.
Who Will Run Gulf Middle
District documents state that Principal Joel DiVincent, appointed in June 2025, will remain in charge of daily campus operations while MGT places its own coaches and specialists in the building and partners with district turnaround staff. Gulf Middle serves grades 6 through 8 in New Port Richey, according to the school's page on the Pasco County Schools website, which also lists the school's leadership team and contact details.
What The Plan Requires And Accountability
The district's TOP-2 packet with the state lays out specific performance targets, including FAST gains, subgroup learning gains, Algebra I pass rates, attendance and behavior. Part of the external operator's pay is tied directly to those benchmarks. "Thirty-three percent of compensation is deferred until targets are met," the district's EO filing states. The operator must also run weekly leadership reviews, monthly data meetings and quarterly Community Assessment Team (CAT) reviews to track how the school is doing. The full plan appears in the Florida Department of Education TOP-2 packet.
Why It Matters
The change is significant because state rules give districts only a short menu of choices when a school racks up years of low grades: extend a district-managed plan, hire an external operator, convert the school to a charter or shut it down altogether. Pasco chose the external-operator route in hopes of avoiding more disruptive options. As the new model rolls out, families and educators are likely to keep a close eye on whether the outside partner can deliver measurable improvement on the timeline the state has set, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
