Schools

Back-To-School Countdown (Day 3): Know Your Area School Directors

This is the third posting in a 41-day effort that gives you news you can use as you count down the days before the opening bell of the 2011-12 school year. The first day of school in the Hillsborough County School District is August 23.

The Brandon Patch Back-To-School Countdown proceeds with this Day 3 report on news you can use as you get ready for the opening bell of the first day of classes.

Teachers in the Hillsborough County School District go back to school August 15 to prepare for the first day of school for students, August 23.

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Find out what's happening in Brandonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Hillsborough County School District has more than 250 schools and centers, which makes for a pretty hefty administrative load for a centralized school system.

In other parts of the country, there are lots and lots of school districts, many within blocks of each other.

Find out what's happening in Brandonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In Florida, every county is a school district, which means one school board oversees all public schools in Hillsborough County. (Quick trivia question: In what state do all the schools fall under just one school district? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

To facilitate the governance of those schools, the district has been broken down into seven areas and each area is a run by an area director.

Consider this area director a "mini-superintendent" for the cluster of schools closest to your home. It's a good first call to make with any concern after you exhaust your channels of communication at the school level.

Indeed, the area director has been called the "principals' principal," as noted in the job description posted on the school district website.

It reads: "The area director supervises the day-to-day operations of the school and the school budgets for a specific geographic area to assure proper implementation of school board policy and procedures. In a sense, they are the 'principals' principal.’ "

Greater Brandon area schools fall under the auspices of:

  • Area 5, directed by Sherrie Sikes, a Brandon High School graduate, who can be reached at 813-744-8630. Her offices are at 825 Brooker Ave. in Brandon.
  • Area 6, directed by Jerry Jackson, who can be reached at 813-707-7050. His offices are at 703 North Thomas Street in Plant City.
  • Area 7, directed by Anthony Satchel, who can be reached at 813-740-3711. His offices are at 1005 North Parsons Avenue in Seffner.

To determine what area a school falls under, a complete listing of schools by areas is posted online.

Below is a list of areas, along with both the number of schools in each area and the comprehensive high schools that are included in that mix. Presume that each high school's feeder middle schools and elementary schools would fall under the same jurisdiction (but check with the link above).

 

Area No. of Schools High Schools 1 38

Blake, Jefferson, Plant, Robinson

2 31 Alonso, Leto, Sickles, Steinbrenner 3 38 Freedom, Gaither, King, Wharton 4 39 Chamberlain, Hillsborough, Middleton 5 43 Bloomingdale, East Bay, Lennard, Riverview, Spoto 6 39 Durant, Newsome, Plant City, Strawberry Crest 7 38 Armwood, Brandon, Tampa Bay Technical

 ABOUT THE BACK-TO-SCHOOL COUNTDOWN:

This is the third posting in a 41-day effort that counts down the days before the opening bell of the 2011-12 school year for the Hillsborough County School District.

Previously posted:

Trivia Answer: Hawaii.


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