TAMPA — Hillsborough County School District officials hope to place more east Tampa middle school students at magnet schools near their homes, instead of busing them 12 miles to troubled McLane Middle School in Brandon.
For those who stay at McLane, the district is exploring ways to help them better adjust to middle school and high school.
Acting superintendent Jeff Eakins announced these steps Thursday to the Tampa Bay Times editorial board.
"Parents may want McLane to be their option," he said. "But we want to make sure they have intentionally chosen McLane."
An April 5 Times report described rampant suspensions and crime at McLane, which led the district in expulsion cases for the 2013-14 school year and the decade. Black students were disproportionately represented in the discipline cases and arrests.
More than 300 east Tampa students are bused to McLane because all five of the area's middle schools are magnets, meaning they select students based on an application and lottery. Although McLane is not the only school affected by the busing, it has experienced the greatest impact.
"There were obviously issues that needed to be addressed. That's clear," Eakins said. But "some of those were already addressed." Under principal Dina Langston, suspensions and arrests have dropped and attendance is up. "The adults around the school are truly advocating for the kids' success," he said.
Eakins said the east Tampa magnets have as many as 200 available seats. The school choice office staff will reach out to parents at Potter, Edison and James elementary schools, making them aware of these and other options.
The district also is strengthening ties between McLane and Middleton High, the school that east Tampa students attend. Summer classes for McLane students leaving eighth grade will be taught by McLane teachers at Middleton, he said. Students leaving fifth grade at Potter can take summer classes at McLane.
Eakins acknowledged teacher turnover is a challenge, as in most high-poverty schools. Nearly 30 McLane teachers have left the district since Langston took over in late 2013. Eight of the departures were in recent months, a district report said.
"They put a lot of pressure on the shoulders of a teacher," said Mark Seitz, a science teacher who resigned after five weeks because of a discipline problem in his class. "Basically, I was managing behavior instead of teaching."
Broader issues of choice and diversity go far beyond McLane, Eakins said. Members of his staff are examining ways to fill seats in urban schools without promoting segregation. "We're using McLane as our talking point for greater solutions, for those types of situations where we have seats available, but we have students bused out of their communities."
Eakins said he doesn't want a two-tier system that gives an excellent education to magnet students but an inferior one to non-magnet students. "The first balance you strike is, when the kids get off the bus, no matter where they go to school … they have a great experience," he said.
Eakins stepped in after the School Board voted in January to dismiss superintendent MaryEllen Elia. The board on Tuesday is expected to approve a contract that will give him the job.
Also in Thursday's interview, Eakins discussed his plans to improve Hillsborough's graduation rate, which lags behind other area districts and the state. By studying the records of students who did not graduate, he identified hurdles that kids commonly experience in third, sixth and ninth grades. He's encouraged by legislation that will allow more students to take elective classes regardless of their state test scores.
Eakins said that, unlike Elia, he is not committed to having an armed guard in every elementary school. The district is in the early stages of a plan that is to be phased in over four years, with a board vote before each new phase. Eakins said he wants to consider the results of the plan, thus far, before taking it further.
Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Contact Marlene Sokol at (813) 226-3356.