TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Slowdown To Quiet Building Of Hillsborough Schools

ADVERTISEMENT

By MARILYN BROWN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 23, 2008

TAMPA - Hillsborough County school officials expect a three-year hiatus on building new schools beginning in 2010-11, including the delay of two planned elementary schools.

A slowdown in both growth and the funding stream to build schools is the reason, said Cathy Valdes, the Hillsborough school district's chief facilities officer.

The state is projecting the addition of far fewer students in the next five years than Hillsborough projects.

State projections show 1,677 more students in Hillsborough in five years; the district thinks it will be 16,000, said Jim Hoessler, a demographer and consultant for Hillsborough.

"The state figures came in very pessimistic," Hoessler said Tuesday. "We don't agree."

Because the district must use state figures to plan ahead, "We're building according to the state's numbers," Valdes said.

Missing: Students And Houses

The two elementary schools placed on hold are one in south Hillsborough adjacent to Lennard High School, and another in Tampa Heights. Both were slated to open for the 2010-11 school year.

The students are not projected to be there to fill the elementary in south Hillsborough, and housing development in the Tampa Heights area has been placed on hold, Valdes told school board members at a workshop Tuesday.

"Growth is going to come back," Valdes said. "The key is to be planned, poised and ready for those students."

Also pushed back in long-range plans are middle schools in the Plant City area and south Hillsborough scheduled for 2012-2013. They will not open before 2014, Valdes said.

Already funded are two new elementary schools and one middle school opening in August, followed by two new elementary schools and two new high schools opening for 2009-2010.

After that comes three years with no new schools opening, although hundreds of millions of dollars in major maintenance projects, renovation and remodeling are planned. That money will come from a local property tax levy for capital outlay and a state allocation for maintenance.

With building slowing, impact fees on new homes will be down, and the district is not expected to get any more public education capital outlay dollars for new construction in 2009-2010.

Hillsborough is still paying off about $1.2 billion in debt service for 70 schools it built in the past 12 years, said Gretchen Saunders, the district's budget director. The district is paying most of it off with 1 mill of the local property tax levied for new capital outlay.

Public Bus Transportation

In other discussion Tuesday, school board members said they are interested in using public bus transportation to transport older students to school. With growing urbanization and fuel costs, it might be an option, they said.

Some students use public transportation now, Superintendent MaryEllen Elia said, but bus routes are not designed for that. The district will look into it for the future, she said.

Reporter Marilyn brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069 or mbrown@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT