About 6,000 kids out of 50,000 eligible have chosen a school. Those who don't choose will be assigned to a school.
By ELISABETH DYER
Published January 9, 2004
The application period wraps up today for the Hillsborough County School District's choice plan.
Of the 50,000 students eligible to choose where they will attend school next year, about 6,000 had filled out paperwork as of Tuesday, county officials said. Final numbers are expected by Jan. 16, and students will be notified beginning Feb. 2.
"A number of people are satisfied and can remain at their school by doing nothing," superintendent Earl Lennard said.
Last-minute applications can be filled out until 10 p.m. today at the choice resource center at Stewart Middle School, 1125 W Spruce St. Students who don't choose will be assigned to a school by the district based on where they live and space available.
Children entering kindergarten, sixth grade or ninth grade next school year were eligible for choice as were all children in urban zones who are bused to suburban schools.
The forms returned accounted for about 12 percent of the students eligible. Not many came from the South Tampa area. Plant High School, the area's only A-rated high school, received only a few dozen.
Choice staff spent the past few months educating parents on their options at choice seminars, resource centers at schools and through online information and applications.
As the deadline loomed, choice specialists set up stands in area malls where they met with more than 800 parents and collected nearly 100 applications.
Over the holidays, 12 retired and active teachers, principals and school personnel canvassed neighborhoods where 12,600 mostly minority students are bused to suburban schools. School officials collected 351 applications. About 3,000 of these students chose to continue busing to their satellite schools and about 6,000 will be assigned to new schools opening in their neighborhoods. The rest will be assigned to schools by the district. One of the new schools is B.T. Washington, which opens next year in Historic Ybor as an elementary school for neighborhood children.
Formerly a middle magnet school, Washington will serve students bused to Kingswood, Lithia Springs, Seffner and Valrico elementary schools. Notices were distributed at those schools Tuesday for students who still hadn't chosen.
Choice supervisor Beleria Floyd said parents have responded positively to Washington.
"Based on the calls it sounds like a lot of them are excited about having a neighborhood school. They were pleased to know they were boundaried in and, if not, that they could choose it," Floyd said.
The choice plan is Hillsborough's attempt to maintain racial diversity in schools after 30 years of forced busing.
The plan divides the county into seven geographic regions, with each consisting of at least four high schools, five middle schools and several elementary schools.
Most South Tampa-area schools fall into Region 1.
Each region contains a zone with a high percentage of minority students who, in order to increase diversity, are bused outside their communities to campuses throughout the city and county. Some students in the zone also are assigned to schools in their neighborhoods.
The urban zone for Region 1 has about 2,900 students. The children, such as those at DeSoto and neighborhood kids at Blake High School, could choose a school within the region no matter their grade level.
