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District Not Closing Any Of Its Schools

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By MARYELLEN ELIA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 6, 2008

Readers of your paper on July 30 were shocked to see a front-page headline that said we are planning to close three of our schools. The headline was misleading, and the act of placing that large headline on the front page was irresponsible.

Allow me to set the record straight and correct the misimpressions left by your story and the headline.

We are not closing any of our schools. The state has no interest in closing any of our schools.

The community and the school district have a commitment to each of the three schools: Sulphur Springs Elementary School, Franklin Middle School, and Middleton High School. These schools are rich in history, and they have promising futures.

The story and the headline were based on a list of schools released by the state under the new "Differential Accountability" system devised by the U.S. Department of Education in conjunction with the Florida DOE. The list targets schools that have not shown adequate improvement.

The three Hillsborough County schools on the list are in need of improvement. They have made gains, but not enough.

As far as I'm concerned, several of our schools are in need of improvement. In our district, we call them "Focus Schools" and we devote all the resources that are necessary to improve the schools. We've been doing that for years because we don't wait for the state or the U.S. Department of Education to tell us that we need to make greater progress.

What was not clear from your story was that the list was limited to Florida schools that receive federal Title I funding, which goes to high-poverty schools. Many struggling Florida schools were not on the list simply because they don't get the federal funding. It is inaccurate to state, as your story did, that this is a list of Florida's worst schools.

We are dedicated to a process of accountability and improvement that will help us achieve our goals at those schools. We have turned schools around before, and we'll do it again. I hope that when the schools show improvement, the headline will be just as big.

MaryEllen Elia is superintendent of the Hillsborough School District.

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