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Two Hillsborough schools told to remove all ‘unsatisfactory’ teachers by Jan. 7

Otherwise, their state turnaround plans will be rejected.
 
Published Dec. 17, 2018|Updated Dec. 17, 2018

Two Hillsborough County schools with persistently low performance on state testing measures have until the start of the second semester to remove all their teachers rated 'unsatisfactory' in their evaluations.

Otherwise, state-required improvement plans for Jackson Elementary and Greco Middle will be denied.

So said the Florida Board of Education on Monday, as it considered approval of the two schools' plans. Officials said it is critical for children in those schools to have high quality teachers in front of them.

Jackson has five teachers in that category, and Greco has six. Outgoing education commissioner Pam Stewart said she had confidence that the district will meet the demand, and has received assurances from superintendent Jeff Eakins.

Board member Gary Chartrand expressed concerns that, though necessary, the move coming mid-year will be disruptive.

Stewart said it might be so, but she would not want to leave the children's education in the hands of ineffective educators. If anyone is to blame for the situation, she said, it would be the district.

"They knew they needed to do this," Stewart told the board. "As disruptive as it is for students, they could have and should have done this before now."

Chartrand asked the department to look at ways to ensure that future teacher changes for this reason take place at the end of a school year, rather than between semesters. Then he and the rest of the board approved the plans with the caveat attached.

Students return to classes on Jan. 8.

UPDATE: Hillsborough school district spokeswoman Tanya Arja said Jackson Elementary has no "unsatisfactory" teachers on staff and has not this year. She added that Greco Middle is in the middle of adding "effective" and "highly effective" teachers to its faculty to run the classes that had been led by the six low-rated educators there.

One is already hired, and the others are set to arrive in January.

The six "unsatisfactory" teachers will remain at Greco, Arja said, to help the new ones who are hired and to maintain a degree of continuity for the students. They will no longer be teachers of record who are directly responsible for the student learning, though, Arja explained.