Page 2 - Just Elementary News Today

The first bell of the new school year rang across the Tampa Bay area on Thursday, bringing an 11-week summer break to its inevitable end. More than 400,000 students returned to classrooms in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, where they were greeted by more than 40,000 teachers and staff. Back-to-school day gives students a chance to reconnect with friends they haven’t seen for a ...

While most school boundary changes in Hillsborough County won't begin until 2024-2025, some will start this upcoming school year.

When the Tampa school board voted in May to close Just Elementary School, it wasn’t a surprise. Just is the only school in Florida to receive an F from the state Department of Education, and fewer than 11% of its students can read at grade level. It’s already half-empty. In theory, the closure should have […]

The standing-room-only crowd lined two deep against the walls of the downtown Tampa auditorium as scores of speakers implored the Hillsborough County School Board not to close Just Elementary. For months, Just’s fate had teetered, as the board weighed the practicality of closing a half-empty school against the difficult message that mothballing a mostly-Black campus would send to Tampa’s ...

A major initiative to change school attendance boundaries across Hillsborough County will proceed on schedule, even though the person leading it is leaving. The school board voted 4-3 on Tuesday to implement the plan developed by Superintendent Addison Davis with the assistance of WXY Studios consulting firm. The vote came despite pleas from some families to pump the brakes now that Davis has ...

Just over a year ago the Pinellas County school system hired a new superintendent. Now it’s Hillsborough County’s turn, just three years after Addison Davis replaced Jeff Eakins. It’s not unusual these days for the top job in a large school district to turn over frequently. But finding a new leader has substantial implications for children, school employees and the community. Here are six ...

The Hillsborough school system faces major challenges in the coming year.

The surprise resignation Thursday of Superintendent Addison Davis adds to the turmoil facing the Hillsborough County School District. Davis’ three years were a mixed bag, but he saw the nation’s seventh-largest school system through the pandemic, and succeeded in making Hillsborough finally address its profligate spending and the costly waste of operating half-empty schools. The school board ...

A committee is advising the district on long-term plans.

Mekhi Cummings will enter first grade at a new school in August now that Just Elementary is closed for the foreseeable future. He doesn’t know how he will like riding the bus. His new teachers will find “that I’m good at writing and stuff,” the 6-year-old said. The goal, for district leaders, is to provide Mekhi and his schoolmates with a better education than they had at Just, an ...