Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

The Hillsborough school shuffle

Moving a child from a neighborhood school can be disruptive to students and inconvenient to families, which is why Hillsborough County schools need to be sensitive to public concerns about a districtwide plan to redraw attendance zones. Still, moving students to schools with available space is the right first step to ease crowding in the growing county. As public hearings continue in the coming weeks, officials should not forget that fairness is the issue. Parents should look to channel their criticism into a positive force.

Contrary to what some parents argue, the district involved families early in the process and is right to address the problem on a countywide scale. School board members have warned for a year that impact fees for school construction were not keeping pace with growth, and unless the County Commission approved an increase, reassigning students was on the table. The district also made the right move by addressing the problem countywide and phasing the discussion over a period of 18 months. Dealing with schools on an individual basis is problem-avoidance, not planning, and it gives wealthier neighborhoods more leverage to sway elected board members and the staff.

The overriding focus should be simple: What's the fairest and most effective approach to rezoning schools to make use of existing classroom space? The first phase, which could affect 1,500 students and 20 schools, should be a model for what follows. The district might need to expand transportation services or add child care or academic programs to offset any hardships these families might face. But the principle must hold that this is a public school system, not a federation where schools rise or fall on the clout of neighborhood associations. We have enough low-performing schools in poorer neighborhoods already, nationwide, without codifying that unfairness in a scheme that could divide another generation.

Parents and the district should also come together and address two roots of the problem. The widespread fear of reassignments says a lot about how many schools have a range of academic needs. Rezoning is a chance for the district and parents to confront inequities and improve scholastic performance countywide. It should also focus voters' attention on those county commissioners who would rather give developers a break than charge a reasonable fee for newcomers who bring kids into the school system.

[Last modified April 1, 2006, 00:55:17]