UPDATE - Dr. Stacy Hahn (District 2) will be joining us for a Q&A on Jan 25th at 6pm at Charles B. Williams Park (Fig and Hubert) - 309 N. Hubert Ave. 

Join North Bon Air & Westshore Palms neighbors to discuss the proposed school boundary changes!

Please arrive at least 15 minutes early if you'd like to join the "questions" list for Dr. Hahn! Thank you!

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We had very little warning with no transparency and have very little time with a large task at hand. We need your support!  All hands on deck!  A redistricting decision is being made mid-February.

Overall this is a Hillsborough County problem, but this zeros in on Homes in North Bon Air, Westshore Palms, Beach Park, Gray Gables and Oakford Park.

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Say YES to Scenario 1 in support of keeping our kids at Coleman & Plant!

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WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1.  Send emails stating your case (and personal stories) to everyone below - otherwise you're only reaching one voter:

Superintendent: Addison.Davis@hcps.net (copy: secretary - Marita.Johnson@hcps.net)

Board chair: Nadia.Combs@hcps.net (copy: secretary - Laura.Parnell@hcps.net)

District 2: Stacy.Hahn@hcps.net (copy: secretary - Linda.Ortiz@hcps.net

District 3: Jessica.Vaughn@hcps.net (copy secretary: Laura.Parnell@hcps.net)

District 4: Patricia.Rendon@hcps.net (copy secretary: Lori.Powell@hcps.net)

District 5: Henry.Washington@hcps.net (copy secretary: Maria.DeJesusColumna@hcps.net)

District 6: Karen.Perez@hcps.net (copy secretary: Linda.Ortiz@hcps.net)

District 7: Lynn.Gray@hcps.net (copy secretary: Maria.DeJesusColumna@hcps.net)

You can find more board member info here:  https://www.hillsboroughschools.org/Page/551

2. Click on the map and leave a comment (Say no to Scenarios 2 & 3 in support of one another):

https://www.hcps-boundary.org

3. SIGN THIS PETITION AND SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA! (Financial donations help views)

4. Share on social media: www.facebook.com/HIllsboroughSch 

5. Join us to discuss other ideas to stop rezoning in the Facebook Group: HCPS-Boundary Change

6. Voice your concerns at the upcoming live meetings with the school board (scheduled 5:30-8pm):

Jan 9 - Middleton HS, Plant City HS

Jan 10- Sumner HS, Brandon HS

Jan 11 - Plants HS, Leto HS

Jan 12 - Gaithers HS, Sickles HS

Jan 13 - Wharton HS, Blommindale HS

Additionally, the most important meeting to attend is when the schoolboard meets on Jan 10th - 4-6pm at ROSSAC (901 E. Kennedy Blvd)

7. Find further information (facts, data, etc.) on www.TAMPACHILDREN.com

 

If you want more information, please keep reading.  We ask you to please sign and share this petition with anyone who would be willing to stand for our community and our children.

School redistricting is grossly unfair to Tampa residents living in the Westshore Palms, North Bon Air, Beach Park, Oakford Park and Gray Gables. areas.  We are the easiest target because we are in rapid gentrification, we are still establishing our community, and are still somewhat disorganized in buildling a voice.   We've invested greatly in this area with improved housing and attracting new businesses, and have overwhelmingly moved here because of the highly rated school zones.  Rezoning our school zones will take us two steps backward in our efforts to grow and decriminalize this area.

• Many of us have paid higher property taxes for over a decade in order for our children to have the superior education and sports opportunities Coleman and Plant offer. 
• This could affect our children's mental health that comes with stability and consistency.
• Many of us have moved into the impacted area specifically for the opportunity for our children to go to Plant High and feeder schools. 
• Redistricting will break up our neighborhood, our friendships, and our families.
• The primary diversity of Plant comes from Westshore Palms, North Bon Air, Beach Park, Oakford Park and Gray Gables areas.
• Rezoning will not solve the problem of balancing school populations. Many will move before sending their kids to failing schools. Therefore its not really saving any taxpayer money but just redirecting the problem.
•  These neighborhoods have come a long way in terms of decreased crime. Rezoning would reverse that.
• Rezoning will further inrease the expansion of private and charter school, hurting our public school systems.
• Among our children, it will disconnect high school affiliations - one child went to one high school, another goes to a different high school. Two children, the same family, one with more opportunity than another. This is unfair. 
• Redistricting will significantly impact the values of our homes, in some cases causing negative equity positions. 
• The process utilized to share knowledge of the proposed redistricting is potentially discriminatory against our elderly and low income residents who are not internet users and may be unaware of the proposed changes. Home value impairment is particularly concerning for our elderly. In many cases, they are dependent on the equity in their homes in order to fund their lifespan. Cutting into that home equity will impair their finances at an age where they are unable to recoup their financial loss. In short, it could ruin their lives.  Changing without representation is grossly unfair.
• The walk to school will be very dangerous, having to cross under Highway 275 and walk on extremely busy streets that are prone to accidents and casualties.
• Middle school bus commute times will be greatly increased, robbing our children of necessary and invaluable time at home.

Our kids education is at stake…

• Data provided by the State of Florida indicates Pierce Middle School is a failing school with significantly lower test scores than Coleman Middle School. 
• The data also shows Jefferson High School is a failing school. Placing our kids in this school will severely stunt their educational growth and hinder their future…all for the sake of saving money.
• Our children have been through enough over the last three years – COVID-19, virtual learning, loss of companionship, etc…and now they want to change our children’s schools. The mental, emotional, and psychological impacts over the last three years continue to manifest themselves and now the School Board wants to further cause our children distress! We will not know the impacts of the COVID-19 lockdowns for some time but is adding another stressor to our young children the responsible thing to do.

Targeting middle-lower class and ethnically diverse community…

The Westshore Palms, North Bon Air, Beach Park, Oakford Park and Gray Gables areas are the most ethnically diverse and have the lowest average median income in the Plant High School feeder district. The School Board will now remove a collection of diverse students out of a predominantly white and upper class community, further disadvantaging our children and not furthering the goals of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. All of this data can be found at:

 https://www.city-data.com/city/Tampa-Florida.html

• Data-based studies need to be done to inform us, and the important, educated constituent base that we represent - a high voting percentage, exactly how we will be impacted and impaired from any. 
• The Hillsborough County schoolboard hasn't had ONE meeting with the public about rezoning, complete lack of transparency.

We fully and completely object to school redistricting in the Westshore Palms, North Bon Air, Beach Park, Oakford Park and Gray Gables areas.

Thank you so much for your participation and support!