The Hillsborough County School Board discussed plans at Tuesday's meeting to close three schools and redraw attendance boundaries for others in an effort to consolidate campuses with low enrollment.
The moves, which still have to be approved after a second hearing scheduled for April 7, would take place next school year and impact thousands of students.
District officials said the consolidations would increase "operational efficiency" while allowing "the district to expand opportunities for students by consolidating resources, staff and programs."
These discussions are also taking place as districts statewide fight against "takeovers" by charter schools that are allowed to co-locate in underenrolled public schools.
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The district plans to close Graham Elementary, Madison Middle School and Pizzo K-8. The latter school sits on the University of South Florida Tampa campus. A lease hike by the university is forcing Pizzo K-8 to close, district leaders said.
A Spring 2026 Reassignment Study from the district's Growth Management team found that both Graham and Broward Elementary schools were below 40% capacity, according to school board documents.
The plan is to reassign Graham's 647 students to Broward Elementary, which has larger capacity.
The study also found that Madison Middle School is operating under 60% capacity. Students east of Dale Mabry Highway and north of State Road 60 will be reassigned to Stewart Magnet Middle School, which is being rebuilt and combined with adjacent Just Elementary School, which closed in 2023 despite community outcry.
"I can't imagine the message that our students are receiving, seeing that the university is giving us what's called an economic eviction."Board chair Karen Perez
The rest of Madison's students will be rezoned for Monroe Middle.
Board member Jessica Vaughn pointed out how, in 2024, the district had done the opposite — close Monroe due to falling enrollment and move its students to Madison and Stewart.
"We rushed through that, and we didn't listen to the feedback of the community, so now we're rushing to undo that," said Vaughn. "In my district, where I've had time to talk to the community...there's not enough time for them to trust the decisions that we're making."
Several community members also spoke about a lack of communication from the district.
Gianny Hunt with the group Magnified Voices spoke against the decision to convert Sulphur Springs K-8 into an elementary school and transfer middle school-aged students to other campuses.
"They're worried about siblings being separated if the middle school is closed, they're worried about making their daily routines even harder when they're already in survival mode. They're worried about transportation. They're also worried about safety," said Hunt.
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In-person community meetings were held for all closures and boundary changes. The district collected feedback through email as well.
For Sulphur Springs K-8, meetings took place twice in February, but Hunt argued not enough people attended because the meetings were not accessible to working parents or those who speak other languages.
"The low turnout is a sign that the process itself is not working, so today I am urging us to look into that a bit further — when families don't receive clear information, when language access is missing," said Hunt.
Discussion about the closure of Pizzo K-8 turned heated as board members criticized USF for a nearly tenfold rent hike that would essentially push the school off campus.
"I can't imagine the message that our students are receiving, seeing that the university is giving us what's called an economic eviction," said board chair Karen Perez.
ALSO READ: New lease paints an uncertain future for Pizzo K-8 and Hillsborough schools' relationship with USF
For about 30 years, Pizzo K-8 operated as a lab school for education majors, and served about 900 students. But USF's College of Education has struggled with low enrollment for years, and recently shuttered three master's programs.
With an ongoing teacher shortage, board member Patti Rendon questioned what the closure would mean for the district.
"This is a sad day in Hillsborough County that one of the largest universities in the state of Florida is not partnering with the seventh largest school district in the country to develop future educators for this country," said Rendon.
Elementary school-aged students will be rezoned to five adjacent elementary schools. Middle schoolers will be reassigned to their zoned middle schools.
And unlike other schools facing closures, Pizzo K-8 is not experiencing underenrollment, board members pointed out.
"I mean, it's a school that's thriving, 900 students. The teachers are there," said board member Nadia Combs, "but we cannot continue."
In addition to the rent hike, USF is charging the district a one-time parking fee of $1,035,000 and an annual $25,000 security fee to University Police. The total cost to the district for the remainder of the 10-year lease term would be about $8 million.
"Obviously they don't want us there," said Combs.
Other proposed boundary changes include reassigning students from Barrington, Eisenhower, Shields and Turkey Creek Middle Schools to a new middle school slated to open in Wimauma. The move will also help alleviate overcrowding in those schools in the south county, board documents said.
The district also plans to reassign students from Jennings, Greco, Sligh Middle Schools, and Stewart Middle Magnet to Young Middle Magnet, which is at 29.23% capacity.
