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School year opens short on teachers

Though there are 340 vacancies, every classroom will have a teacher when classes start Thursday, the superintendent reports.

By MELANIE AVE
Published August 2, 2005

TAMPA - As parents finish their back-to-school shopping for Thursday's big day and children say farewell to summer break, many Hillsborough County principals are still looking for teachers to fill their classrooms.

The 2005-06 school year begins Thursday, but superintendent MaryEllen Elia said the district has about 340 teacher vacancies - about 11/2 positions at every school on average. Last year, there were about 185 vacancies at the beginning of the year.

Despite the hundreds of teachers needed, school officials said every classroom will have a teacher Thursday, whether it's another teacher filling in, an administrator or a substitute teacher.

The number of vacancies is not considered problematic in light of the 15,000 teachers in the district and the 1,500 initial openings.

"It's certainly better to have a certified teacher hired by the first day," said Jean Clements, president of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association.

Elia said the district is still processing many applications. And some new teachers, unaware of the early start time, are still moving to Florida from other school systems that begin their school year closer to Labor Day.

"I wish we had every opening filled with all teachers that were certified," said Elia, who became superintendent in July. "But there are creative ways to put qualified teachers in front of classrooms."

Elia held her first back-to-school news conference Monday at Orange Grove Middle School, setting the tone for what she hopes will be a year of high expectations for teachers, principals and herself.

At the end of the year, Elia said she will ask each school to write an anonymous evaluation of her performance. Her goal is to further tie performance to student achievement.

Based on her contract with the School Board, Elia can receive bonuses for improving student test scores and getting more students into advanced classes.

To that end, Elia announced one new incentive, a special diploma that will be available for the first time for high-achieving seniors.

Assistant superintendent Mike Grego said the criteria are still being developed, but that students who do well in a certain number of difficult courses will receive the "Superintendent's Diploma of Distinction" upon graduation.

The school year is starting at a bit of a low point because about one in four Hillsborough schools saw their state-designated grades drop. Three of the county's schools were graded failing this spring after a 3-year streak with no schools receiving F grades.

In other highlights, Elia said in order to keep pace with growth of an estimated 6,000 students - an enrollment of about 192,500 students - the district is opening three new elementary schools, a new middle school, one adult technical school and one K-8 grade school this year. Students at two schools, Turner Elementary in New Tampa and Collins Elementary in Riverview, will be housed in temporary portable classrooms until their campuses are finished mid year.

Elia said one major priority this year will be addressing a $364-million shortfall expected in the district's 5-year construction plan. The district doesn't have enough money to build a new high school in central Tampa, five new middle schools and seven new elementary schools.

She plans to talk to the local chambers of commerce, the County Commission and the Planning Commission about the deficit and make a plan to pay for the schools, which are needed to keep up with growth and the demands of class-size reduction.

"Everybody needs to understand what the issue is," she said. "We as a community have to solve it."

--Melanie Ave can be reached at 813 226-3400 or melanie@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 2, 2005, 04:55:23]