TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough County School Board members voted 4-3 to pass new school boundary lines for the 2024-2025 school year. It's a move that the school district hopes will save millions of dollars.
Under the new plan that's been in the works for months, Hillsborough County Schools leaders will repurpose six schools, partially repurpose three schools, expand grade levels at one school and change boundaries for 103 schools. The plan could impact roughly 15,000 students.
The school board estimates by reallocated resources through redistricting they will save roughly $13 million. Newly chosen interim superintendent Van Ayres said he supports the redistricting changes, 100 percent.
However, parents and homeowners have expressed concerns in public comment periods that this would negatively impact their children's education and their property values. In addition, the changes disproportionately impact minority families.
"It is biased and it is biased toward lower social economic individuals," Stanley Gray from the Urban League of Hillsborough County said Tuesday during the meeting before voting took place. "If we don’t look at this issue with due diligence we’re going to get what we have right now and that is – we have in our lower social economic schools we have a lack of parent participation and a lack of achievement."
Here's a breakdown of how Hillsborough School Board members voted on the boundary line changes.
- Nadia Combs – Yes
- Henry Washington – No
- Lynn Gray – Yes
- Patti Rendon – Yes
- Jessica Vaughn – No
- Karen Perez – No
- Stacy A. Hahn – Yes
The changes will not impact the 2023-2024 school year, but by the next school year, parents and students will have to prepare for the changes to come.
The vote comes after just a couple of years ago, Hillsborough County was in danger of its finances being taken over by the state after budget woes. In 2021, the school district said half of its failing schools improved to a "C" or higher grade.