New Cell Phone Policy, Bus Driver, Teacher Shortages As School Begins

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Speaking from Hillsborough High School, the oldest high school in Hillsborough County and the second-oldest high school in Florida, newly appointed Hillsborough County Schools Interim Superintendent Van Ayres couldn't contain his excitement.

"There is nothing like the energy you feel at the start of the school year," he said during the district's annual back-to-school news conference. "Everybody's ready to get back to work and support our students."

He said hosting the news conference at the massive red brick Gothic Revival-style high school in Seminole Heights designed and built by architect Francis Kennard in 1928 was especially significant.

The high school adorned with a clock tower, spires and arched stained-glass windows more in keeping with the architecture along the Champs-Élysées has also produced countless outstanding graduates over its century as an education institution.

Among its alumni are Hillsborough County educators Vivian Gather and Richard Spoto, who now have high schools named in their honor, Major League Baseball players Dwight Gooden and Gary Sheffield, country singer Slim Whitman, former Tampa Mayors William F. Poe, Julian Lane and Dick Greco, Gerber baby model Ann Turner Cook, cartoonist Fred Lasswell, Marine Corps 1st Lt. and Medal of Honor winner Baldomero Lopez who was the first casualty of the Korean War, world-champion drag racer Don Garlits, not to mention Ayers own parents.

His mother, Nuri Ayers, went on to work for the Hillsborough School District for 35 years, serving as a math teacher at Webb Middle School and principal of King and Sickles high schools.

His father, Van, taught career technical education for 33 years at Leto High School.

The new head of the seventh-largest school district in the nation said he knew since he was a kid that he would follow in his parents' footsteps. He began his career in education as a chemistry teacher at Blake High School, was named principal of his alma mater, Jefferson High School, served as chief of strategic planning and partnerships for the school district, and was unanimously appointed superintendent in July following the resignation of Addison Davis who accepted a job in the private sector.

Related: Interim Hillsborough Schools Superintendent Prepares For New Year

As he addressed members of the media inside the building named the most beautiful high school in Florida by Architectural Digest, Ayers said the scope of his new responsibilities hasn't been lost on him.

Hillsborough County Schools has 24,000 employees, making it the largest employer in Hillsborough County, surpassing Tampa Bay-based industry giants like Jabil, Raymond James, Masonite International and JP Morgan Chase & Co.

The district serves 224,149 students at 303 schools including 151 preschools, 203 elementary schools, 120 middle schools and 65 high schools, and boasts an average graduation rate of 90 percent.

In 2023, Niche, which ranks nearly 100,000 schools and districts across the country annually, gave the Hillsborough school district an overall grade of B+ and ranked it the 24th best school district in Florida out of 67 school districts.

Meeting New State Standards

School board members and school administrators throughout the state are continuing to struggle to develop policies based on new state legislation passed by Gov. Ron DeSantis' Republican majority Legislature that Hillsborough school board member Jessica Vaughn say are often vague and difficult to implement.

These include the expansion of parental rights that allow parents to challenge school library books and textbooks, limiting the teaching of sex education in schools, changes in longtime standard instruction related to the enslavement of Blacks in America and prohibitions of discussions of LGBTQ issues and the use of gender-neutral pronouns.

Ayers said Florida school districts are still grappling with the new legislation regarding teaching Advanced Placement Psychology courses, without the standard 6.7 segment that deals with gender and sexual orientation.

Under the Florida Department of Education's Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking, the 6.7 segment is illegal. However, it is required by the College Board, the national board that administers SAT and AP tests, for students to be eligible for college entry.

Ayers said the same day school superintendents gathered for a Zoom conference to discuss this AP Psychology change, the College Board issued a statement saying, "To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements. Therefore, we advise Florida districts not to offer AP Psychology until Florida reverses their decision and allows parents and students to choose to take the full course."

"So we've gone back and forth, all of the school districts, on what to do and, as we sit here now there's still not much clarity," said Ayers. "But we are lucky that all 28 of our high schools are (Cambridge Assessment International Education) Cambridge-certified high schools, which gives us the opportunity to offer for-sure college credit."

He said Brevard, Duval, Collier, Lake, Lee, Marion, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Volusia, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties are also exploring using the Advanced International Certificate of Education or International Baccalaureate certifications to allow students to meet national College Board requirement for college eligibility for students.

Districts that have opted not to offer AP Psychology include Escambia and Polk counties. And Sarasota and St. Johns counties have opted to continue teaching AP Psychology with the 6.7 segment.

"I, along with many others have been frustrated with this attack on our students' education," said school board member Karen Perez.

She said students are subjected to more mental health issues than ever including online bullying, school shootings, suicide, depression, food insecurity, unemployment in the household, homelessness, loss of parents due to the global pandemic.

"I can't imagine being a young student in school today," she said. "The message being sent is there are those who want to diminish many youths' voices and they are being made invisible. The American Psychological Association is dismayed that this state is censoring high school psychology curriculum and we're not supplying them with the tools to compete at the highest level. The censorship ignores the decades of science that many of us, including myself, learned and need to know to fully succeed in the field of psychology. This is certainly a sad time in the history of students."

Ayers disputed reports that Hillsborough County Schools will no longer teach Shakespeare due to violations of Florida's BEST standards rules dealing with sex and language.

"First and foremost, we have not excluded Shakespeare from our high school curriculum," he said. "Shakespeare novels are also available in the media center collections throughout the district to check out."

To meet the BEST standards, he said the district has adjusted its curriculum guide to ensure the new state standards are supported in the classroom while still exposing students to classic literature.

Therefore, students will be only exposed to excerpts of certain Shakespeare novels. These include "Romeo and Juliet" for grade nine, "Macbeth" in grade 10 and "Hamlet" in grade 12.

In addition to Shakespeare, Ayers said the students will be exposed to only five to seven excerpts of works by Ray Bradbury and Homer.

Hillsborough Strong

While acknowledging the challenges the school district is facing, Ayers said he's erring on the side of optimism, promising to promote a "positive school culture" based on "trust, openness and respect." He said the district has even had T-shirts made for teachers with the motto "Hillsborough Strong."

Despite being overworked and underpaid, he said the district has been able to attract some of the best and brightest teachers in the state, including Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year Nicolette Barone.

Currently teaching at Oak Park Elementary School, Barone has been an educator for eight years.

"I'm so excited to go back to my students, love on them like they deserve and have them do what they think is the impossible," she said.

Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year Mic Conteh spent 21 years in the Air Force before becoming an educator nine years ago. He compared teaching to the Bill Murray film, "Groundhog Day," where the same day continually repeats itself.

"But this time, you have a chance to go back and get it right," Conteh said.

Good News, Bad News

Ayers also presented a list of good news, bad news scenarios.

As of the start of school, the district had 203 bus driver vacancies. But he noted that's 100 fewer than this time last year, "so we've made some tremendous growth there. The district has 837 bus routes, the same number as last year, and ideally needs 600 to 800 bus drivers.

He noted that South Hillsborough County is the highest growth area and has greatest number of bus driver vacancies.

A new "Here Comes the Bus" website and mobile app will provide parents with real-time GPS information on bus arrival and drop-off times. Parents will also know that their child is on the right bus in the morning and got off at the right bus stop in the afternoon; will be notified if there's a delay due to heavy traffic; and will increase the safety of younger students who may get off at the wrong stop.

Additionally, the district has 455 teacher vacancies. "Earlier in the summer we were upwards of 1,000," he said. "So that is approximately 300 fewer than we had at this time last year so our teams from our principals have done a tremendous job in filling those vacancies, and we're in a great place to start the school year."

He said the majority of the 455 teacher vacancies will be filled thanks to incentives the district implemented over the summer including a collaboration with Kelly Education, which brought in 150 resident educators, who may be recent college graduates or career changers, "and we're supporting them as they fulfill their dream to become teachers," Ayers said.

The district also has 150 long-term substitute teachers, he said.

Cell Phone Ban

Like all public school district around the state, the state mandated that Hillsborough County Schools adopt a policy prohibiting the use of cell phones at school in most cases.

During a lengthy discussion during the Aug. 8 school board workshop, the school board agreed to adopt a policy that prohibits students to have their cell phones on in class.

All cell phones must be powered down, placed on silent or stored out of sight. This also includes earbuds and head phones.

However, a teacher may have students use their cell phones as part of class instruction.

School board member Lynn Gray was disappointed, however, that the policy didn't extend to lunch hours and times between classes or before and after school.

"I do want us to look at what is going on with our cell phones. We have a cell phone policy for class but I worry about children using cell phones during other times of the day, getting a hold of pornographic media sites and getting sucked in," said school board member Lynn Gray.

New School Programs

This year, the Hillsborough school district is launching two new workforce development magnet schools this year to prepare students for on-demand careers.

Through these magnet schools, students will be trained in state-of-the-art programs housed in high-tech, advanced facilities.

Ayers noted that the economic forecast for the Tampa Bay region indicates the medical and construction fields will have some of the most sought-after careers in the next five to 10 years, so these magnet schools will give students industry certification and the knowledge to start their careers right out of high school or be better prepared for post-secondary training.

The Building Construction Academy at Bowers/Whitley, 13609 N 22nd St., Tampa, will offer training in automotive maintenance, plumbing and construction.

The Medical Academy at D.W. Waters, 2704 N Highland Ave., Tampa, will offer nursing, radiology, cardiology, emergency response and biomedical science training.

And after much pleading by parents, Carrollwood Elementary School became a kindergarten through eighth grade school, starting with the addition of a sixth grade this year. As part of the districtwide boundary adjustments, Carrollwood is expanding to a K-8 school using a phased-in approach, adding a grade level each year.

Collins Elementary School will become a K-8 school next year.

Licensed clinical social worker for the school district, Brittany Hamilton, said this year Hazel Health will offer free mental health services at school and home for all kindergarten through high school students with parental consent.

"The telehealth services from home is a game changer," she said. "We know that mental health matters in our district."

She said all high school, middle school and K-8 students will have access to mental health telehealth services at home now and at school by the end of the first quarter of the school year.

Parents and guardians can also use Hazel's virtual physical health services at home Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to address student health needs.

Additionally, the school district current has 140 on-site therapists at Hillsborough County schools, she said.