Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Schools

16 schools on zone-change list

Officials, who emphasize that nothing is final, are inviting other ideas to solve overcrowding.

By LETITIA STEIN
Published September 9, 2006

TAMPA - Sixteen Hillsborough County schools are on a list for possible boundary changes, potentially affecting families from Tampa's inner city to the far-flung suburbs.

The attendance zone overhauls are being considered for schools with no other relief in sight. The problem areas range from the high-growth suburbs of New Tampa and Valrico to urban campuses around the University of South Florida.

"Situations where boundary changes would be the best option is where there's no other solution," said Bill Person, who directs student placement in Hillsborough schools. "It needs to be discussed."

He stressed that nothing has been decided. Affected communities, he said, will have several opportunities to suggest alternative remedies.

On Monday, for example, school officials will discuss the boundary shifts with a community task force reviewing capacity issues.

The group was formed to ease tensions that flared last spring over a round of boundary changes in northwest Hillsborough. Parents complained that school officials forced the upheaval on them with little notice or attention to their concerns.

This time, district administrators are proceeding with an extra measure of caution.

"If you've got a better idea, staff's all ears," Person said. "Tell us what you think before we begin this process, because we heard a lot last year after we started the process."

He noted that the list of schools being considered for boundary changes could have been much longer - perhaps three times as many were in jeopardy. But some concerns are being addressed with classroom additions that state funding has made possible.

Plans to add classroom wings to 44 schools are part of a five-year construction program approved this week. Also on the building list: 15 new schools.

But that's not enough to solve all the crowding concerns, especially as districts scramble to meet a state mandate to lower class sizes in two years.

Officials must address a growing problem at Sickles High School, which has 500 more students than it can hold.

There are no easy answers for Sickles. A planned classroom wing won't free up enough space. A new high school is slated to relieve Sickles, but district officials don't know if they can finish it in time.

Meanwhile, they are mulling the possibility of moving students from Sickles to Leto High, where hundreds of seats are sitting empty. But that may not be the best fix, Person said. Double sessions and a modified schedule are among the alternatives officials want to discuss with the community.

Tricia Coonts, president of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Sickles, says families are crossing their fingers that the new high school opens in time.

"Most families would rather go on double sessions than have the boundaries changed," she said, adding that other options also need to be explored.

The idea of boundary shifts isn't new to Hillsborough, where new schools open every year with freshly carved attendance areas. But pulling students out of established areas can become controversial very quickly. Parents buy homes based on schools. Once there, they don't want to change.

In Sickles' case, the school has seen double sessions before. Many in the community know what to expect. They just hope that school officials listen.

"Don't come out just to appease us," Coonts said. "I hope if they do make the effort to come out in the community and seek our opinion that they do actually listen to us."

Monday's meeting of the task force on school capacity is at 1:30 p.m. at Jefferson High School, 4401 W Cypress St. in Tampa.

[Last modified September 9, 2006, 06:07:42]