Division of Facilities and Operations and Other Departments
Walter Pownall Service Center
The Division of Facilities and Operations of Pinellas County Schools is housed at the Walter Pownall Service Center along with several other departments. We are located at 11111 South Belcher Road, Largo, FL, 33773, on the northeast corner of Bryan Dairy Road and Belcher Road in Pinellas County.
Our main phone number is (727) 547-7100.
Associate Superintendent, Operational Services Clint Herbic (727) 547-7100
The Associate Superintendent for Division of Facilities and Operations oversees the operation of the following departments: Safety & Security(Area Maintenance Supervisors), Building Operations, Schools Police, Food Services, Transportation, Warehousing, Office of the School Board Architect (includes Educational Specifications and Real Estate and Concurrency Services), Utility Management, Maintenance, Environmental & Quality Improvement Services (includes Carpet Maintenance, Pest Control, and Turf Maintenance ). Also housed at the Walter Pownall Service Center is the Instructional Materials Department (a satellite office) which is not under the management of Division of Facilities and Operations.
General Managers of Operations, Safety and Security
The General Managers of Operations, Safety & Security oversee matters related to safety, security, performance, and plant operations at the school level. They work collaboratively with the Associate Superintendent of Operations to plan and review strategic work protocols and assure professionally managed and maintained facilities. They conduct routine site safety reviews and plan, design, and coordinate safety and security projects with school-based personnel, district personnel, local government agencies and private contractors.
Pinellas County Schools Fire Marshal
Alison Shanabrook: (727) 547-7190
The Fire Marshal performs professional technical fire prevention and inspection work. Responsibilities include enforcing State Requirements for Educational Facilities, Florida Building Code, Life Safety Code, Prevention Code and other applicable state ordinances and regulations, managing the district’s Fire, Health and Safety (FHS) program and overseeing fire, casualty and sanitation inspections of buildings.
Food and Nutrition Department Lynn Geist, Director (727) 547-7155
The Food and Nutrition Department provides well balanced and nutritious meals to the students throughout the school year. This department has over 800 employees. They serve lunches, a la carte lunches and breakfasts each day. All menus are planned and coordinated using the U.S.D.A. Dietary Guidelines. They are self-supporting as they receive no funds from the School Board to pay for their program, personnel or equipment.
Instructional Materials Dana Schaefer: (727) 547-7130
The Office of Instructional Materials is the district’s liaison with the publishing industry.
This department manages the textbook adoption process for the district. Adoption committee members review samples of textbooks and work with curriculum supervisors to select the books and other instructional items for Pinellas County schools. The Instructional Materials staff provides research and processes purchase orders on requested items from schools and department's state categorical funding. Many special projects are coordinated in this department, such as the distribution of Common Assessments and ESE materials. They also maintain and distribute Summer Bridge materials along with the items centrally created by our district. This department coordinate deliveries of instructional materials to all of the schools and departments within Pinellas County schools.
This office is also responsible for the annual inventory of instructional materials purchased with state adopted funds.
Maintenance Mike Hewett: (727) 547-7239
The maintenance department employs trades personnel who repair facilities, maintain equipment, buildings, and sites throughout the District. Service requests are submitted electronically by designated people at each site directly to customer service for processing. Requests for service include carpentry, plumbing, electrical, technology, roofing, carpet maintenance, pest control, turf/grounds maintenance, heating/ventilation and air conditioning and painting to name some of the many services available. This department is also responsible for site work and the maintenance and relocation of portable classrooms throughout the District.
Emergency Service/Work Orders (727) 547-7214
Facilities Design & Construction (FD&C)Doug Pollei, Director (727) 547-7113
The Facilities Design & Construction (FD&C) department is responsible for the design and management of construction, remodeling and renovation projects at the School District’s educational and support facilities.
Pinellas County Schools Police
The Pinellas County Schools Police Department consists of 26 Sworn law enforcement officers and 10 civilian support personnel. The department provides law enforcement services to the school district which include School Resource Officers, internal criminal investigations, and a K-9 utilized for drug sniffs. The department’s emergency communications center provides 24 hour coverage as the first point of contact for the district throughout the year, as well as monitoring all intrusion alarms for the district’s 150 schools and support facilities.
Real Estate Department (727) 547-7137
The Real Estate Department acquires land for new sites and for existing-site expansions. This involves negotiations, appraisals, site studies (engineering, environmental, and biological), land-use approvals, public hearings, and closings. The department manages many site-related issues for 135 schools and centers occupying 2600 acres of Board-owned land, including easements, rights-of-way, vacations, and site-records management. The department also manages long-term land and facility-use agreements and short-term facility leases.
Transportation Director of Transportation: Rick McBride
Pinellas County District Call Center: (727)587-2020
The Transportation Department has 700 employees responsible for transporting the students of Pinellas County to and from school each day. Our school buses travel over 25,000 miles each day transporting in excess of 33,000 students. In addition, our buses service students for summer school, athletic functions, and educational field trips.
Energy Management
