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Schools

Parents furious over plan to move students

Under the proposal by Hillsborough school officials, many of the reassigned students would be moving to lower-rated schools.

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published March 17, 2006

	[Times photo: Ken Helle]
	Gage Zayas, 5, and sister Drew, 6, join a demonstration Thursday to keep Dickenson Elementary School from becoming a "success school" for low achievers, moving its current students to one of four neighboring schools. Parents respond to proposal It's Your Times: How is this new proposal affecting you?

TAMPA - Hillsborough County school officials looked only at numbers, mere dots on a map, when they decided to send 1,580 children to different schools next fall to relieve school crowding.

They announced the plan Wednesday.

By Thursday, irate parents could call upon numbers of their own: If the School Board approves the new boundaries, two-thirds of those reassigned students will wind up at lesser-performing schools, as judged by state and federal ratings.

Among the moves would be these:

Ninety-one children would leave A-rated Twin Lakes Elementary for C-rated Forest Hills Elementary.

Another 116 pupils from B-rated Alexander Elementary would transfer to C-rated Tampa Bay Boulevard.

Or on a bigger scale, all 579 students attending A-rated Dickenson Elementary School, which met federal yearly progress standards, are positioned to attend four nearby schools, none of which matched Dickenson's results. Dickenson would close as an elementary school and reopen as an academy for students who don't learn well in a traditional setting. "This is an A-plus school. Why would you close an A-plus school?" Patrick Anderson, whose sons Wesley and Andrew attend Dickenson, wondered Thursday as he protested the proposal outside the school. "It doesn't make a bit of sense to me."

Dickenson teachers noted that the school, where about 70 percent of students qualify for free lunches, is not an easy place to attain top state and federal marks. They credited a strong staff and dedicated parents, and suggested that district officials consider leaving Dickenson intact and bringing more children there instead.

"We've got a great team here, and it gets better every year. ... We've got plenty of room," math resource teacher Jan Britt said. "I really don't think this is in (students') best interest."

Acknowledging such concerns, spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said the district could reopen enrollment for a school choice program that includes transportation, and extend the magnet school application deadline for affected families. That way, parents who are displeased with a school will have additional choices for their children, if and when the School Board approves the plan to rezone 20 western Hillsborough elementary schools.

No real consideration was given to shuttering a school other than Dickenson, mainly because of its location, pupil administrative services director Steve Ayers said. The district has about 600 open seats in the immediate Town 'N Country area, he said, and Dickenson is farthest away from growing population centers.

"In areas with no growth, we're bringing the students to the seats," Ayers said.

School Board member Susan Valdes, who represents the affected areas, said she understands parental concerns and wants families to speak up before decisions are made. It's important, she said, to create as little disruption as possible.

Still, she remained "on the fence" about her support of the rezoning plan. The School Board did, after all, ask for global solutions to its crowding problems, Valdes noted.

Dickenson parents collected signatures on a "save our school" petition Thursday, and planned an emergency PTA meeting to discuss the next course of action. Similar meetings were being organized throughout the region.

The boundary proposal is just the opening salvo of a larger program, said Bill Person, the district's general director for pupil placement. The district has severe crowding in several schools at all levels, and a projected shortfall of more than $400-million in its five-year construction budget.

Those areas where new schools are not planned face similar upheaval in the coming 18 months.

The city of Tampa and the area east of Interstate 275, from the Pasco County line south to State Road 60, are the next likely zones for changed boundaries. After that would come southeastern Hillsborough, from Brandon to the Manatee County line.

"This affects everybody," Person said. "We can't just keep building schools to deal with overcapacity issues."

Dickenson parents and teachers said they just hope the administration and School Board will look past the numbers to the people the proposal touches. And not simply for academic issues.

"We feel like we're being let go, even though we're not, because we're not leaving Dickenson by choice," speech pathologist Kasey Pacht said. "The news is devastating."

Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at 813 269-5304 or solochek@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 17, 2006, 01:57:49]