This page was provided to share information about the project’s objectives and timeline, familiarize the public with key concepts and background, and help stakeholders track important updates and announcements.

Superintendent's Recommendation

After feedback from School Board Members, parents/guardians, district staff, organizational partners, and community stakeholders, the Superintendent's Recommendation was developed in an effort to address the immediate needs of Hillsborough County Public Schools along with causing minimal educational disruption. The plan focuses on reducing the number of very over-utilized and very under-utilized schools, increasing benefits of utilization, reducing distance to school for students, and creating stability for future feeder patterns.

On June 20, 2023, the School Board of Hillsborough County approved the districtwide redistricting plan for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school year.

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This recommendation provides Hillsborough County Public Schools with an opportunity to remain innovative as six schools will be fully repurposed, three schools will be partially purposed, one school will expand grade levels, and 103 schools will receive new boundaries to ensure better utilization of instructional student stations.

Why is the district making these boundary adjustments?
Over the years, some schools have seen a significant change in student population due to shifting demographics and population growth. While many areas are still growing, other neighborhoods have fewer families with school-aged children. Families may also be choosing other educational options for their children. 

For this reason, the district must analyze which schools are very over-utilized, and which are very under-utilized to better understand how we can shift our student populations to different schools to be the most fiscally responsible and provide better educational opportunities for students. 

When will the boundary changes be implemented?
The approved boundary changes will take effect for the 2024-25 school year.

What are the next steps in the process?

We want your child to Explore New Possibilities! Students that will be moving to a new school in the 2024-2025 school year, will have the opportunity to learn more about their assigned school. The principal will be inviting students and families to an Open House event in the coming weeks. You and your child will be able to meet staff and ask questions about classes, extracurricular activities, parent events, and other opportunities that will be available next year.

Will the students be able to remain (i.e. be grandfathered) in their current school?
In an effort to keep academic momentum, the plan allows the following grade levels to be grandfathered into their current schools for the 2024-2025 school year, without transportation: 

• Rising 5th grade students;
• Rising 8th grade students; 
• Rising 11th grade students;
• Rising 12th grade students.

If a student is grandfathered into their current school using the criteria above and a parent wishes for them to remain at their current school, a parent MUST fill out the Choice application, so that school staff can properly plan for next year. Parents or guardians will be responsible for providing transportation for their child to and from school.

If a student is grandfathered into their current school but a parent plans to transition their child to their newly assigned school next year, no other action is required and the student will automatically be enrolled in their assigned school for 2024-2025.

Which schools are being repurposed?
Under the approved changes, five schools will close to students at the end of this school year. Those schools include Adams, McLane and Monroe middle schools, and Cleveland and Kimbell elementary schools.

What factors were considered in identifying schools for repurposing ?
The district and the consulting team looked at several parameters including: 

• Current enrollment; 
• Stay rate – how many students are assigned to a school versus how many are enrolled; 
• Future growth and enrollment trends; 
• Utilization of surrounding schools; Per-pupil costs (accounting for Title-1 funding).

What will the schools be repurposed into?
The schools will be repurposed, either as district offices or they may reopen in the future with a new educational focus.

The District will explore repurposing some existing buildings to potential uses such as a career and tech center, gifted and talented center, project-based learning center, staff professional development center, and an ESE center, among others.

How will these boundary adjustments affect staff at the schools identified for partial or full repurposing?
It is important to note that HCPS staff will remain employed with the District despite any boundary adjustments or school repurposing decisions. Human Resources is planning a special employment pool for staff at the schools identified for possible partial or full repurposing.

What if I do not want my child to attend the new assigned school?
Parents who would like to participate in the District’s Magnet and School Choice Options may visit and apply for another school placement through the district’s Magnet and Choice webpage at https://www.hillsboroughschools.org/choice

I understand the district is saving money doing these boundary adjustments. How are the cost savings calculated?
More broadly, the estimated cost savings are a combination of a few things outlined below:

1. One-Time Capital Savings - that is the money not spent in building new schools and purchasing/leasing portables as the scenarios put more schools within the 'well-utilized' range.
2. Annual Savings - that is a combination of:

1. 1. Transportation savings: When students are assigned to schools that are closer to their residences, there will be fewer students to transport resulting in transportation cost reductions. This saving is based on the estimated reduction in annual miles traveled and the current cost of transportation services.
   2. Savings from repurposing: In the case of schools that are partially or fully repurposed, the savings can range from personnel costs to maintenance costs associated with the building. Note that instruction staff will move with the students, and our calculations account for that.
   3. Revenue Loss: that assumes a certain percentage loss of students who may choose to attend charter or private schools. This number is based on the stay rates of receiving schools and multiplied by the current revenue per student to obtain the final estimate.

Why do we look at assigned students and not just those that are enrolled in a school?
As you examine the number of students that are proposed to be moved, please understand that the number of assigned students includes every student that has been identified within that particular school boundary.  This includes students who are currently attending HCPS brick and mortar schools, charter schools, private schools, home school, virtual school, choice schools, and magnet schools.  In developing the recommendation, we must plan for the potential greatest impact and include all students. 

September 12, 2022 – September 16, 2022
Phase 1 Engagement

Countywide webinars were conducted and attended by more than 700 community members and viewed by an additional 400 people through the livestream broadcast.

December 2022 – January 2023
Phase 2 Engagement

More webinars were held, as well as a series of in-person meetings. These meetings were hosted by the Superintendent and staff as well as the boundary analysis team to engage with the community to listen and address concerns. The meetings were held at high schools across the county. Stakeholders were given the opportunity to view maps of the three scenarios and ask questions and give input.

February 2023
Phase 2 Overview

Following the various rounds of feedback, the boundary analysis team worked with HCPS leadership to create a fourth scenario that addressed community concerns around distance to school, overutilization, and assignment stability, among others.

June 2023
School Board Approved

After extensive feedback, the School Board approved the districtwide redistricting plan.

Assignment Stability - How infrequently a student’s zoned school is changed. Fewer changes to the student’s zoned school means their assignment is more stable. Frequent and large boundary changes result in less assignment stability. 

Capacity - The total number of students that a school can accommodate. If a school is over-utilized, then student enrollment is greater than the school’s capacity. If a school is under-utilized, the enrollment is less than total capacity. HCPS uses state-rated capacity (SRC) to determine school’s capacity. The SRC is the number of students that the State of Florida determines that a school has the physical capacity to enroll and can be reasonably accommodated in a facility. 

Charter School - Public charter schools receive government funding but operate independently from the school system. HCPS charter schools are free to attend but admission is by application to the charter school lottery only. 

English Language Learner (ELL) - Students who are determined by language proficiency testing to be in sufficient need of language support at school. ELL students receive language support from a certified teacher through the ELL program. 21% of HCPS students are English Language Learners. 

Enrollment - The total number of students who currently attend a school or a special program. 

FISH Capacity - Florida Inventory of School Houses is the State’s report on the capacity of existing facilities. The FISH capacity is the number of students that may be housed in a facility (school) at any given time based on using a percentage of the number of existing satisfactory student stations and a designated size for each program. 

Feeder Pattern - The sequence of schools that students are assigned to attend as they progress from elementary, to middle, to high school. In some cases, HCPS students’ progress to the same secondary school as their peers from elementary or middle school. In other cases, they progress to different schools (also known as “split articulation”). 

Island Assignment - Island assignments are non-contiguous service areas, where students often cross through another attendance area to get to their assigned school. 

Magnet Program (within neighborhood school) - Certain boundary schools within the county provide magnet programs with seats reserved for magnet program students. These schools are general education school and have attendance area boundaries. 

Magnet School - A public elementary, middle, or high school whose curricula are theme-based and technology-rich. Magnet schools offer students opportunities to discover, explore, and refine their talents and interests while focusing on excellence in academics. Magnet schools do not have attendance area boundaries. 

Neighborhood School - The public school that a student is assigned to based on their home address. 

School Boundary - A geographic area that comprises residences that are assigned to a public school. If a student’s home address is inside a school’s boundary, they are assigned to attend that school. The area that makes up a school boundary is also referred to as an assignment area. 

School Repurposing - Repurposing means closing a school and using the facility for another purpose or program. In the context of Hillsborough County, there is a potential to use the many underutilized schools for more active community uses including, early learning centers, additional magnet schools, adult education centers, among other potential users. 

Special Education - Specially designed instruction and other services for students with disabilities. HCPS provides special education services to students with disabilities from birth to age 21, including support and resources for parents, guardians, and families. State and federal regulations require special education services in public school systems. 

Utilization - Expressed as a percentage, utilization is determined by dividing student enrollment (number of students attending) by total capacity (number of seats available). If a school is over-utilized, the number of students enrolled exceeds its capacity. If a school is under-utilized, there are more seats available than students enrolled. 

Walk Zone - A geographic area around a school within which HCPS has determined students can safely walk from home to school. Students living within a school’s walk zone are not eligible for bus service. HCPS aims to assign students residing in a school’s walk zone to that school.