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A Plan For Schools, Growth

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By RAY REYES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 5, 2007

PLANT CITY - Officials last week approved amendments to the city's school facilities plan that will help ease overcrowding at local schools for up to 10 years.

The city commission voted 5-0 for the plan, which also sets guidelines on how new subdivisions, and the families that move into them, affect the population of the two high schools, three middle schools and 11 elementary schools in and around Plant City.

According to the amendments approved by commissioners, school capacity will be protected by limiting new development in areas where enrollment is about 95 percent its maximum capacity.

The plan, which must be implemented by June 2008, coordinates population projections, growth, land use and school facilities to ensure high standards of education, said Mark Hudson, principal planner with the county planning commission.

The school facilities amendments will be included in the city's master plan for growth, according to a city staff report. In 2005, the state's Department of Community Affairs selected six communities, including Hillsborough County, to take part in a pilot program in which local governments and school districts work together to manage growth.

The amendments approved by commissioners last week, and previously approved by the school board, resulted from the pilot program, officials said.

Provisions are also in the plan for city officials to work with the county school board in determining sites for schools, Hudson said.

One high school and one elementary school in Eastern Hillsborough are expected to be built within the next five years, said Cathy Valdes, the chief facilities officer for the county school district.

High School 'UUU' is expected to open by 2010 and Elementary 'J' by 2011, Valdes said. Both schools will be built on parcels west of Plant City on Gallagher Road.

Valdes told commissioners the district's 2007-08 enrollment has grown slightly. Student enrollment for the first eight weeks of this school year is projected at 191,218, an increase of 316 from last year.

The county had experienced an influx of about 6,000 new students annually for about 10 years, Valdes said. She said Hillsborough may not see that type of growth again until 2011.

With the commission's approval, the school facilities amendments will be sent to the state Department of Community Affairs for final review.

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 865-4433 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

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