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Boundaries To Be Set Soon

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR

cpastor@tampatrib.com

Published: January 7, 2009

TAMPA - Families should find out this month whether the school district is considering moving their children to new schools, and more changes could be on the way in the next few years.

The Hillsborough County school district is getting ready to set attendance boundaries for Steinbrenner High School, opening in August on Lutz-Lake Fern Road. The high school could draw from Gaither, Sickles and Freedom and indirectly affect Alonso.

The district also may throw crowded Chamberlain into the mix but had not made a decision as of winter break, said Bill Person, the district's general director for pupil placement and support programs.
Chamberlain is filled to 115 percent of its capacity and Alonso to 113 percent. Neither school is slated to send students to Steinbrenner but could fill the seats at Gaither or Sickles, respectively, when those students move to the new high school.

After Steinbrenner, no additional schools are proposed until 2013 at the earliest. But the district will use that downtime to balance uneven enrollment countywide, Person said.

Some schools that are too full sit next to ones with extra space. Alonso, for example, is not far from Leto, which is at 83 percent of its capacity this year. The district will look at situations similar to those and see whether it needs to draw new boundaries.

"We're going to look at every single boundary in the school district, especially those that are overcrowded sitting next to a school that is underutilized," Person said.

Besides the high schools, Cannella, Essrig and Westchase elementaries also are crowded this year.

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503. Keyword: School Enrollment, to see how crowded your child's school is.

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