The faculty at a Pasco County elementary school, including the principal and assistant principal, will be dismissed at the end of the school year.

The entire staff at Lacoochee Elementary, near Dade City, will be dismissed in June, when the school is expected to receive a D rating for the third consecutive year.

The unusual step is coming as part of a state-imposed overhaul of the school.

Assistant superintendent Amelia Larson informed Lacoochee's 23 teachers of the pending dismissals Tuesday, and the school sent home letters to parents.

Principal Shirley Ray said many members of the faculty have worked hard to build relationships with students and their parents in one of Pasco County's most impoverished communities.

"The love the kids, they love the community," she said. "We are actually a community hub for this area."

The faculty members are not the only ones upset by the news. Parent Camellia Haley said she was shocked when she read the letter sent home with her son.

"It's devastating," she said. "My son knows this school. I have a rapport with the school. I can come up here. I feel comfortable talking to Ms. Ray."

According to state guidelines, after receiving three D ratings in a row, the school district has three choices: close the school, turn it into a charter school or replace the staff and start over.

The measure is extreme, marking the first time that a Pasco County school would see its faculty overhauled since state and federal accountability rules took hold in the late 1990s.

The district hopes the overhaul will attract new, high-performing teachers to the area with a few extra thousand dollars.

But for parents like Haley, changing the faculty is not the answer.

"I think they should give more time," she said. "Because they have showed their progress in the last two years. Why break them down now?"

A spokesperson with the teachers union shares the same sentiment, saying the projected rating is too premature and that improvements are on the way. However, the union agrees that out of all of the options given by the state, restaffing is best for the students.

The president of the Pasco teacher's union, Lynne Webb, said any teachers who wish to return to the school would have to reapply, though district officials said the school will not rehire any of the reading and math teachers unless they are highly qualified and effective instructors.

Ray said she, as well as many teachers, will reapply.  If they are not selected to work at Lacoochee, they will be placed in other schools throughout the district.

Lacoochee Elementary was graded with As and Bs from 2003 to 2009 before the decline began.

Support staff, such as cafeteria workers and custodians, will not be affected by the overhaul.