Frank W. Springstead High School has served Hernando County since 1975. This leads to the question of who was Frank W. Springstead and why was the High School named after him.
Frank was born in 1918 in Brooksville and his father was J. D. Springstead. The Springstead family was a prominent early family of the area. When Frank W. Springstead married Ann Eichelberger, they were prominent enough to have their wedding carried on the society page of The Evening Independent on Wednesday, June 22, 1938. The article is quite detailed in the dresses that were worn at the wedding.
Frank graduated from Hernando High School and went to a Tampa Business College before going into business with his father.
His wife Ann Springstead was born in Oxford, Alabama. She moved to Brooksville after graduation and lived with her aunt and uncle. She quickly became a fixture of the local social scene. Following the wedding ceremony, the new couple left by car on their honeymoon, which was a tour of southern states.
Frank was elected to the School Board and became chairman. He found the historical records from previous school boards illuminating and read them to the board to provide contrast with the way that the current school board was operating. According to the St. Petersburg Times from December 21, 1972, Springstead describing the Howell school era said, "between 1918-1920, Hernando County was divided into 10 school districts with 25 schools. Each district had three trustees and every school had a citizen supervisor."
Springstead was also involved in the creation of Pasco Hernando Community College in his capacity as Hernando County school board chairman. There were questions of whether it was better to have one of the existing Community Colleges from the Tampa area open branches in the area or create a new community college.
In 1974 School Board member H. E. "Curly" Coburn suggested naming the proposed $2.3 million dollar Junior-Senior High school after Frank W. Springstead in a meeting on the construction of the school. He cited Frank's 24 years of service on the board, with more than half of that time spent as chairman. The 36 acre tract of land on which the school was built was donated by the Deltona Corporation, the original developers of Spring Hill.
Frank W. Springstead Junior-Senior High School opened in 1975 with John Donato as principal. The school started with around 600 students from the sixth through ninth grade. Sixth grade students from Westside were sent to Springstead. This along with the addition of portables enabled Westside Elementary to return to a single session. Westside Elementary had been operating with double sessions since it was built in 1972. Superintendent James K. Austin said he did not want to send high school students to Springstead until comparable facilities for athletic, band, and other extracurricular were built.
Springstead passed away April 1,1988 at the age of 69. Although Frank Springstead was a successful businessman, he is remembered in history for the influential role he played on the school board.