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Back to School 2005

Attending to schools

He draws lines, and people move. Sometimes he hears about it. No, make that most of the time.

By LETITIA STEIN
Published July 22, 2005

Parents love him or hate him, many without even knowing his name.

But when Steve Ayers changes attendance boundaries for Hillsborough County's schools, thousands of families take notice. More often than not, he gets stuck in any resulting cross fire.

That's what happened shortly after he left his post as Wharton High School assistant principal, and then turned around to tell many Wharton families they'd be headed to the new Freedom High.

"I can tell you, they are very serious about their education," Ayers said of the New Tampa families. "I went from making just a few parents upset with me as I had to discipline their child, to making a whole community of parents upset with me as I moved their children."

He expects more of the same when he proposes new boundaries for Liberty and Benito middle schools later this year, to accommodate a new campus in northern New Tampa. But Ayers girds himself for the debate with loads of data and an awareness that, after about a year, "it's all forgotten."

All told, though, Ayers would rather crack open a book or flip on the History Channel than stick out his neck before a crowd of parents.

"I live more in my mind than I do anywhere else," Ayers said. "I'm not an out-front kind of guy."

Like work, life has forced Ayers to venture beyond his comfort zone. For someone who doesn't like organized athletics, Ayers follows sports closely. Never a Boy Scout, Ayers now ties knots with Troop 89 at Nativity Catholic Church in Brandon.

Three sons will do that to you.

As Ayers sees it, the interests must skip generations. In his childhood, he played pickup sports in the Interbay neighborhood of South Tampa.

Born in Washington, D.C., Ayers moved to Tampa in the second grade, when his father retired from the Air Force.

The Robinson High School graduate lived with his parents while studying English literature at the University of South Florida.

"You couldn't get much work as an English lit major," Ayers said, noting that his mother, a nurse, always had wanted to become a teacher herself.

He landed a job teaching English at East Bay High and stayed for 17 years. Ayers also taught reading before becoming an assistant principal. He stayed so long because he enjoyed working with parents and students in a rural community at the edge of Tampa's suburbs.

"It was a "yes, sir, no, sir' kind of a place," said Ayers, who didn't see any reason to move on. "I don't deal with change real well."

A single man could live on a teacher's salary. But by now, Ayers had persuaded Kathleen, a saleswoman he met at WestShore Plaza, to become his wife.

Spectator sports are bonding time for Ayers and his oldest son, Patrick, now 17 and an honor student at Brandon High. Born with cerebral palsy, Patrick can't play sports, but loves watching competitions and collecting autographs.

"I couldn't care less about sports, and now the first thing that I do is check the sports pages," Ayers said.

In 1993, Ayers left East Bay for various administrative positions. He eventually moved to the school district's headquarters in downtown Tampa; he joined the office that oversees pupil assignment and became its director in 2004.

Ayers oversees the placement of all school-aged children in Hillsborough County. They show up as green dots on his computer screen - 176,000 dots at the latest count.

He has no small responsibility in a school district that adds about 6,000 students every year and is the ninth-largest in the country. In the past two years, Ayers has designed boundaries for 15 new schools. Each time a school opens, students get shuffled.

"I'm charged with watching that fine line between the individualized needs of the parent and the long-term goals of the school district," Ayers said. "The worst part of the job is knowing it's disruptive to families."

The best part: Ayers gets to look at the county as a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece connects to the one beside it. Calling the job "an art, not a science," Ayers enjoys the analysis and problem solving involved.

His calm demeanor helps at public meetings, when irritated crowds protest school zone changes. People aren't shy about venting frustrations. Still, he passes out cards so parents can be in touch. He also works with families on an individual basis.

"He's a nonconfrontational person, and he's very open," said School Board member Jennifer Faliero, who represents east Hillsborough. "I think that's the key to this job."

When the revised boundaries work out, Ayers receives grateful e-mails and phone calls.

"They know where to find me," Ayers said.

Staff writer Jeffrey S. Solochek contributed to this report. Letitia Stein can be reached at 661-2443 or lstein@sptimes.com

AGE: 53.

FAMILY: Wife, Kathleen; sons, Patrick, 17, Phillip, 15, Gregory, 13.

HIS JOB: As director for pupil assignment, Ayers sets boundaries for new schools, oversees special assignments, works with the choice program and serves as the school district's liaison to emergency planners during hurricanes.

HISTORY BUFF: "I'm at a point in life where I like real things," Ayers says.

WHAT HE MISSES ABOUT TEACHING: "I miss interacting with the kids."

[Last modified August 2, 2005, 14:46:57]