TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Hillsborough County School Board members met for a workshop Thursday to talk about new plans for moving school boundaries, which the district says is needed to save millions of dollars.
“While we never want to be disruptive, we just have to. We have so many over utilized and under utilized schools that we have to be able to address,” said Superintendent Addison Davis.
So far, four plans have been presented but none have gained enough support for approval by the board. Each plan has drawn harsh criticism from parents of students who would be impacted.
“So it’s very difficult, in a district of over 200,000 students, for us as a district to make a decision that’s going to make every family okay with the change,” said board member Patti Rendon.
The district hired a consultant to draft new plans for school boundaries, but board member “Shake” Washington says the consultant didn’t understand the community.
Davis says the district must deal with some of the issues of overcrowding, and he plans to draft a new proposal for the board to consider that will involve moving students from one school to another.
“Right now it looks around a little over 15,000 students will be a part of my recommendation but those communities have been actively engaged in this process,” said Davis, who hopes to have a new plan drafted by the end of April.