Our students deserve:

• To have their bus arrive at school on time.
• A high quality and consistent teacher in their classroom, every day.
• A positive learning environment where they can thrive.

To ensure students have the support and resources they need to be successful, we must retain and recruit the best staff. We need to keep the absolute best teachers in our classrooms, the top principals and assistant principals leading schools, and exceptional bus drivers, student nutrition staff, custodians, security officers, and others to serve our students.

The challenge is that Hillsborough County Public Schools has far less funding than surrounding school districts to offer competitive pay for teachers, administrators, and support staff. We cannot compete to retain and recruit staff, which results in a higher number of substitute teachers and vacancies we are unable to fill.

The number of staff vacancies is creating barriers for our students. It has a real impact on their everyday learning:

• We have more than 150 bus driver vacancies*, causing many students to arrive at school late each morning and lose quality instructional time.
• We have more than 500 teacher vacancies*, which means many of our students do not have a high-quality teacher in their classroom.
• Several of our school administrators, the leaders who set the school culture and expectations, have left for other districts.

  *As of 7/18/24

School districts across the state have faced this same challenge. To address this, voters in 25 of Florida’s 67 counties have approved a millage referendum to provide additional funding to pay their teachers and support staff more.

Hillsborough County is the only county in the 6-county area that does not have an additional millage.

For more than a decade, the State Legislature has allowed school districts to bring referendums to voters to provide more revenue for their local schools. Voters in districts surrounding us, including Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota have approved a millage.

A millage would support all Hillsborough County Public Schools students by addressing hundreds of teachers and support staff vacancies and expanding academic programs.

If voters approve the millage on November 5^th, it will allow us to compete on behalf of our students.

• Teachers would receive a salary supplement of $6,000 more a year, with $3,000 more for support staff such as bus drivers and student nutrition workers, and $6,000 more for administrators such as principals and assistant principals.
• Expansions to academic programs including extended learning and the arts, college and career readiness, and athletics and P.E.

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Homeowners can utilize a simple formula to figure out the cost for their specific home. Property owners would pay $1 for every $1,000 in taxable value. According to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s Office, the value of a typical home in Hillsborough County is $306,000. When you take out the homestead exemption ($25,000), that leaves $281,000 in taxable value. The cost to a typical homeowner in Hillsborough would be $281 a year, or about 75 cents a day.

Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Bob Henriquez and his team have created a great tool for homeowners. Use this calculator to see how much your investment in our students will be if the millage passes in November.

Visit the Referendum Calculator

If the millage passes in November, Hillsborough County Public Schools would receive an estimated $177 million to support students each year --$150.4 million to district schools and $26.6 million to charter schools (based on student enrollment, per state statute). Allowing the district to:

• Retain and recruit high quality teachers and support staff so that every child has a consistent teacher in their classroom.
• Expand learning programs and offering field trips for all our students, at no cost to them.
• Full day voluntary pre-k (VPK) for Hillsborough County Public School students so they can be prepared and ready for Kindergarten.

This is the exact ballot language that will appear on the November 5, 2024, ballot.

To provide educational excellence for student learning by ensuring competitive salaries to retain and recruit high quality teachers and staff, implementing and preserving academic programs, and distributing proportional funds pursuant to Florida law with charter schools, shall the School District of Hillsborough County levy an ad valorem operating millage of one mill annually from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2029, with annual reporting to county residents for transparency of the use of funds.

To ask a question, sign up for updates, or request a speaker to educate your organization about the millage, please email millage@hcps.net. You can also join us at an upcoming Town Hall to learn about the impact a millage can make on students in Hillsborough County Public Schools.

Upcoming Town Halls

This website is intended to educate the public on the millage referendum. In proposing a millage referendum to voters, our district has a responsibility to educate the public on the vital needs a millage would address, how millage revenue would be invested to positively impact students and our community, and the transparency and accountability measures in place to ensure that impact is delivered. Section 106.011, Florida Statutes, both precludes the school district from expending taxpayer funds for a political advertisement or other communications sent to electors concerning a referendum and specifically allows the following from the school district to inform the public: “reporting on official actions of the local government’s governing body in an accurate, fair, and impartial manner; posting factual information on a government website or in printed materials; hosting and providing information at a public forum; providing factual information in response to an inquiry; or providing information as otherwise authorized or required by law.”