Walker Middle School Boundaries Shift

When John Escobio and his family moved to the Citrus Park area five years ago, they had it set in their minds that one day their daughter would attend Walker Middle School.

"We've been talking about going to Walker for years," said Escobio, whose daughter now attends Northwest Elementary.

But recently the family learned that things may not go according to their plan. That's because since Walker Middle School transitioned to a magnet school this year, incoming fifth graders who don't get in may have to attend a different school.

Walker opened this school year as a magnet school focused on International Studies and with an International Baccalaureate program.

Rising seventh and eighth get priority to return to their school next year. But incoming sixth graders must enter a lottery to attend the school. If they don't get in through the lottery, they'll have the option of a choice school, or attending a new school designated by new proposed boundaries.

That means parents like Escobio may end up sending their incoming sixth grade children somewhere other than Walker.

The three schools that former Walker students would attend are Martinez, Sgt. Smith and Hill middle schools.

Steve Ayers Director of Community and Parent Relations for Hillsborough Schools presented the proposed boundaries at a meeting last night.

"I'm here to hear from you, we can either move forward with this, make adjustments or start over," Ayers told the parents. "But ultimately it's the school board's decision."

The new boundaries roughly work this way:

• Students who live west of Gunn Highway, south of Tarpon Springs Road and north of S. Mobley Drive would attend Sgt. Smith Middle School, located at 14303 Citrus Pointe Drive  Tampa, FL 33625.
• Students who live East of Gunn Highway, north of Erhlich Road would attend Hill Middle School, 5200 Ehrlich Road  Tampa, FL 33624.
• Students who live west of Gunn Highway and Tarpon Springs Road would attend Martinez Middle, located at 5601 Lutz Lake Fern Road  Lutz, FL 33558.

The proposed boundaries will go up for a final vote at the Dec. 3 Hillsborough County School Board meeting.

There are 300 spots for sixth graders at Walker Magnet School next year, said Principal Anthony Jones. Parents must submit an application Dec.5 - Jan.11 to be entered into the lottery for the school. Selection is purely random. Parents will be notified in late February if their child is selected to attend Walker.

Despite getting the information, last night's meeting wasn't comforting to Escobio.

"It's a roll of the dice," he said about the magnet school lottery. "If we don't get in, we've already discussed going to private school."

Parents with input about the proposed boundaries are asked to e-mail their input to Steve Ayers at: Steven.Ayers@sdhc.k12.fl.us