APOLLO BEACH, Fla. — Parents of Apollo Beach school kids are hoping to convince the Hillsborough School Board that they have a great plan to accommodate upcoming middle school students and ease overcrowding.
Apollo Beach Elementary School is currently just K-5. Some parents are asking the school board to convert it to a K-8. The current zoned middle school is Eisenhower, just a few miles away.
But there's concern that it's already crowded.
There are charter and private schools that are closer, but parents like Colleen Bianucci want more public school options.
"So our campus is large enough to build a secondary building. The size of it is very similar to York, which is a K-8 in terms of land acreage," Bianucci said. "We do have a little bit of space that we could probably fit some 6th graders into the building, but as a whole, it would be more feasible to build a second building for 6th-8th."
Bianucci says parents are speaking about the idea at school board meetings now because they'd like to see the board decide by the end of the school year so they can get a plan in place and meet the needs of the growing student population.
The Hillsborough County School Board meets today at 4 p.m. Bianucci says several parents and even students are planning to speak.