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Our Schools

Growth slows, but crowding still an issue

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published August 18, 2006

Okay, so the enrollment growth in Hillsborough schools has slowed.

School officials expected 5,000 more kids this year than last, but a week into the new school year they had seen just 1,100.

Does that mean crowding has gone away, and with it the debates over school boundaries and double sessions?

No way.

Out in suburbia, where the problems were most painful, the situation has not changed. In fact, many of the schools topped their enrollment targets by Aug. 9, and some were feeling the crunch in isolated grades.

Take Bryant Elementary, just west of Westchase. Last year's most crowded school had enrolled 70 more children than expected, with new townhomes bringing in more families almost daily.

Westchase Elementary, which lost 144 kids because of new boundaries, surpassed 1,000 children, and it wasn't supposed to. Town and Country Elementary, which expected to run about half empty, reached 72 percent of its capacity. Lowry Elementary came in low, but its kindergarten classes had 22 to 25 children each.

This is after what was supposed to be an analysis of how many students would be in each west county elementary school. Many upset parents already guess the days of moving children are not over.

Projections for middle and high schools were better but not entirely on target. Sickles High School remains so crowded that the school upset students by moving from one lunch period to a more controllable three.

A committee of educators, parents and community leaders is supposed to take a look at the numbers and the trends and report back to the school district on how better to balance enrollments. Its next meeting, which is open to the public, is 1:30 p.m. Monday at Jefferson High School.

* * *

One way the school district wants to deal with crowding is to encourage families to move their children voluntarily from crowded schools to those with seats.

Until now they have done so with "magnet" programs that also were intended to create racial diversity. But, with the end of court-ordered desegregation, school officials no longer need to worry so much about bringing white faces to predominantly black neighborhoods.

Look, then, for magnet schools closer to the suburbs. Town and Country Elementary, McLane Middle, Greco Middle and Webb Middle are among those in the mix. Nothing is settled.

"We are exploring our options for a new grant, and we are looking at areas we haven't looked at before," said Susan King, magnet school director.

Randomly selected parents will get a survey in the coming weeks to determine interest in subject areas and locations parents would send their children.

King expects to bring a recommendation to the School Board in September. Recruitment for the 2007-08 school year is supposed to start in late October.

* * *

Tired of digging through your child's bookbag for news about PTA meetings, school priorities and the like?

At some schools, the information you are looking for is a mouse click away.

Hoping to make contact faster and save paper, principals at 34 schools are asking parents to sign up for Listserv e-mail groups, which send out immediate alerts whenever the school has news.

So far, the biggest user is Burnett Middle School in Seffner. Principal Herbert Peeples has his list. So, too, do the chorus, band and grade-level teams. Peeples likes it because a parent can get information wherever he or she has Internet access.

"It's more effective than putting a letter in a kid's backpack," Peeples says.

The assumption, of course, is that Mom and Dad are computer-wired. When that might not be the case, schools still can use paper.

To see a list of participating schools and sign up, go to apps1.sdhc.k12.fl.us/ListServ/index.asp.

* * *

Speaking of communication, it appears to have been lacking between the school district administration and the 206 school sites when it comes to the issue of treats.

A new School Board policy, adopted over the summer, says schools will reward students without offering food and drinks. Any food served at school, the policy adds, "will meet nutrient standards and reinforce nutrition lessons taught in the classroom and cafeteria."

But a visit to random classrooms around the county turned up Tootsie Rolls, Smarties and other candies handed out by teachers to their students. Maybe you've seen it. Let us know how widespread the situation is.

Nutrition services manager Mary Kate Harrison wants to know, too. She plans to begin an education campaign aimed at teachers shortly after Labor Day.

* * *

PALMA CEIA - Tampa police arrested two men this weekend in connection with the spray painting of the Plant High School entrance.

Before dawn Sunday, police responded to an alarm and found paintings of a sun, the initials ED and RSH on three exterior walls, two glass doors and part of the roof overhang by an entrance along S Himes Avenue. They also found a backpack with spray paint and travel plans that led them to the men.

Jonathan Zamora, 18, and Eric Jon Delamata, 19, both of Riverside Heights, were arrested and charged with criminal mischief and trespassing. They posted $2,250 bail and were released Sunday.

School custodians removed the graffiti Sunday.

* * *

BELMONT/JACKSON HEIGHTS - Educators new to east Tampa schools will get some high fives Thursday at the second annual Celebration of New Teachers and Principals in East Tampa from 3 to 6 p.m. at Middleton High School. Sponsored by the East Tampa Partnership, the event is designed to encourage networking between educators and community members.

Have ideas for future columns? Contact Jeffrey S. Solochek at solochek@sptimes.com or 813 269-5304. Staff writer Elisabeth Dyer contributed to this report.

[Last modified August 16, 2006, 12:48:23]