BRANDON, Fla. — New school boundary lines are set in stone in Hillsborough County, potentially impacting roughly 15,000 students starting next year.
Concerned parents are now speaking out about how the changes could impact their children's education and their property value.
"That's why I bought my house in this area, for the schools," said Elena Ivani, the mother of two young boys.
Ivani lives in the Brentwood Hills neighborhood, which crosses Brandon and Valrico. Her boys were going to attend A-rated Bloomingdale High School, but after the Hillsborough School Board's redistricting vote, they're now slated to go to C-rated Brandon High School.
Ivani said when she and her husband were house hunting eight years ago, they were only looking at A-rated public school districts.
"If I wanted them to go to private school, we would have stayed in the house we were in and put that money towards private education," said Ivani.
The hit is two-fold. As a local real estate agent, she also has concerns about her home's value under the new boundary lines.
"I'm hoping my home's value at least stays level, but in all honesty, would you pay a premium for a C-rated school?" Ivani asked.
The President of Greater Tampa Realtors Jay Quigley said the redistricting will change Hillsborough County property values, but it is still too soon to know how significant it will be.
"We haven't had a huge redistricting of school districts in a while. This is a massive change and worth watching and analyzing," said Quigley.
Quigley said a school district doesn't change the inherent value of a property, but the perceived one.
"School districts can be a high-value item for a lot of people, but that's not a driver for everyone. It's a driver for certain buyers," said Quigley.
However, for those whose top priority is the school district, this changes everything.
"I'm most likely moving in three years," said Ivani. "So I'm hoping to find something that's suitable."
Hillsborough County Schools sent out a letter to parents and families on Wednesday, the day following the board's vote to approve the redistricting plan. The letter was as follows:
"At last night’s School Board Meeting, the Board approved the districtwide attendance boundary changes. This was the final Board vote and the changes will now take effect in the 2024-2025 school year.
Under the approved plan, approximately 15,000 assigned students will be reassigned to a new school. As parents, we encourage you to take this next year to attend school-based tours, events, and orientations at your child’s new school. This will create opportunities for your child and your family to learn more about academic programs, clubs, extracurricular activities, and available resources.
In the fall, our School Choice and Magnet window will open for the 2024-2025 school year. You will be able to review our full array of Choice Options available across the district. We will communicate more information once the window is available.
In an effort to sustain academic momentum, the following grade levels will be grandfathered into their current schools for the 2024-2025 school year, but without transportation for the upcoming school year:
- Rising 5th grade students;
- Rising 8th grade students;
- Rising 11th grade students;
- Rising 12th grade students.
The approved boundary plan was developed to:
- Reduce the number of very over and very under-utilized schools from 23 to 2;
- Increase the number of schools in the well-utilized range from 67 to 80;
- Reduce the number of schools under 60% from 13 to 0;
- Reduce the number of impacted students from 24,000 to 15,000;
- Reduce the number of impacted schools from 126 to 103;
- Reduce distance from school by 32,959 total miles;
- Reduce annual expenditures by approximately $13,488,217;
- Reduce transportation reoccurring costs by approximately $4,464,297;
To learn more about the adjustments, please visit www.hcps-boundary.org to check your home address.
We thank everyone for their patience and participation as the district underwent this districtwide attendance boundary analysis. Our number one goal is to ensure every child receives a high-quality educational experience."