TAMPA, Fla. — The Hillsborough County School Board could decide to close three schools.
According to Tuesday’s agenda, this is part of an effort to improve fiscal and operational responsibility.
This will be the second hearing on the matter, before the board makes a final decision.
At a school board meeting last month, leaders voted to move to the next step, with a plan to close Pizzo K-8, Graham Elementary, and Madison Middle School, citing low attendance.
"It’s very, very challenging times but I think this is once again the right decision that we have to make," said school board member Nadia Combs.
"The population has decreased," said school board member Henry "Shake" Washington.
For Pizzo K-8, the proposal said nearby schools have sufficient capacity for students currently enrolled in K-5, while students in grades 6-8 will go back to their zoned middle schools.
"We were paying $60,000 a year to be in that spot at USF, but that has increased to $555,000, with a 3% annual increase," said Combs. "The enrollment has also decreased in that area and we really don't have much of a choice."
Broward and Graham Elementary schools were identified as having under 40% capacity.
Staff recommended merging attendance boundaries, meaning all students in the area would go to Broward.
At last month’s meeting, board member Washington spoke about the difficulty of this decision.
"People are moving out of the inner city areas and it’s going to hurt a lot of my schools. I really feel bad," said Washington. "I mean I really do, because it’s nothing that we can do to make it happen. This is just the beginning. We’re going to have to close more schools."
For Madison Middle School, the district said it’s operating under 60% capacity.
The proposal states the school’s boundary will be reassigned to the Monroe Middle campus, while a portion will go to Stewart Magnet Middle.
The district said low enrollment and popularity of these schools are part of the problem—something they’re working to figure out.
"This isn’t just someone failing from a school perspective," said Chris Farkas, Deputy Superintendent for Hillsborough County Schools. "This is the number of students we have in kindergarten are going to continue to go down."
The board will also consider rezoning students at Greco, Jennings, Sligh, and Stewart Middle Schools to Young Middle Magnet School.
The board will also talk about creating new attendance boundaries for students at Shields, Barrington, Eisenhower, and Turkey Creek Middle Schools to go to "Middle School VV," which is currently under construction in Wimauma to alleviate overcrowding.
"I have to make decisions that’s in the best interest of that student, that family, and overall of the tax payer as well," said Combs.
If approved, these changes won’t go into effect until the 2027-28 school year.
Tuesday’s Hillsborough County School Board meeting starts at 4 p.m.
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