Michelle Patty, Tim DeRoche: Why are kids in West Tampa locked out of their A-rated neighborhood schools?

Desks in empty dark high, middle, or elementary school classroom with light coming through windows.

It wasn’t a surprise when the Hillsborough School Board voted last year to close Just Elementary School in West Tampa. At the time of the vote last May, fewer than 11% of students at the school were reading at grade level, and Just Elementary was the only school in Hillsborough County to hold an “F” grade from the state Department of Education. (In 2022-2023, its last year of operation, Just was one of four Hillsborough schools to receive an “F” grade.)

In theory, the closure should have been good news for families whose children were assigned to Just. There’s an A-rated public school, Gorrie Elementary, about 2 miles away. At Gorrie, 80% of the kids read at grade level. For many Just Elementary families, Gorrie is closer to home, so a reassignment there would mean a shorter commute, too.

But that’s not what happened. Like many elite urban elementary schools, Gorrie is full of families who have crammed into the attendance zone to gain access to the school. So, the Just Elementary students got reassigned to Tampa Bay Boulevard and Booker T. Washington, both of which were graded “C” in 2022.

And it turns out that this problem is much bigger than Just Elementary.  For hundreds of families in West Tampa, their nearest elementary school is an A-rated school to the south: Grady, Mabry, Mitchell, and Gorrie Elementary Schools are some of the highest-rated schools in the city.

However, these families in West Tampa have their kids bussed to struggling schools that are further away: West Tampa, Tampa Bay Boulevard, Washington, or Dickenson.  The racial aspect of this is troubling.  Most of these kids in West Tampa are African American or Hispanic. The A-rated schools closest to their homes are all majority white, but these kids are sent to far-away schools that serve 88-96% minority families.

Take a look at the map, which reflects small changes made last year after the district’s rezoning effort.  The area highlighted in grey covers 10 square miles, and all the families in that area live closest to an A-rated school. But they are bussed to struggling schools further away from their homes.

The zone for Tampa Bay Boulevard Elementary is particularly shocking, as it is not even contiguous.  In addition to a misshapen, gerrymandered area around the school, additional students are bussed in from neighborhoods miles away to the south and the west. To the naïve onlooker, it almost looks like this school has become a dumping ground for low-income kids who aren’t wanted at other, higher-performing public schools in the area.

What’s more, similar issues are occurring with A-rated middle schools like Coleman Middle and Wilson Middle.  In some cases, students are being bussed right past an A-rated school and sent to a C-rated school much further away.

None of this is morally acceptable. Indeed, it may be a violation of a federal civil rights law — the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 — that prohibits school districts from assigning minority children to schools that are not the nearest to their homes if it increases segregation.

The School Board had the opportunity to address these injustices when it conducted a rezoning effort and a massive review of student assignment policies that ended last year.  Unfortunately, the Board decided to double down on these archaic and discriminatory school assignment policies.

The good news is that West Tampa families are fighting back.  We are currently working with a group of parents who want to work with the Hillsborough County Public Schools to open up these elite, A-rated schools to the families who live in the neighborhood. It’s time for justice for West Tampa kids.

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Bishop Michelle Patty is a businesswoman and activist who grew up in West Hyde Park and has lived in Tampa for five decades. Her children attended Gorrie Elementary. Tim DeRoche is the founder and president of Available to All, a nonpartisan watchdog that defends equal access to public schools.