By LINDA CHION KENNEY
The freshmen who started their high school careers months after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic were set to walk across the stage this month, with live airings available for friends and loved ones unable to witness the pomp and circumstance in person.
Over the course of 11 days, through May 29, that amounts to 37 graduation ceremonies, including for the school district’s 28 traditional high schools, all of which are scheduled for the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall in Tampa. Included in the mix are Riverview High; Richard C. Spoto High, also in Riverview; and Jule F. Sumner High School in the Balm/Riverview area. Rounding out the category are East Bay in Gibsonton and Earl J. Lennard High in Ruskin.
Collectively, the five schools account for roughly two in 10 of this year’s traditional high school graduates, with some 14,300 seniors set to graduate overall, according to school officials. This includes students from adult and technical school programs, Hillsborough Virtual K-12, and exceptional student centers and career centers, including Eisenhower Exceptional Center in Gibsonton and the South County Career Acceleration Academy in Ruskin.
“As superintendent of Hillsborough County public schools, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to this year’s graduates,” said superintendent Van Ayres, who in November was appointed to replace outgoing superintendent Addison Davis. “Their remarkable achievements are a testament to their dedication, perseverance and hard work.”
Ayres himself is a product of Hillsborough County public schools, having graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1992. His parents graduated from Hillsborough High School, founded in 1885. Nuri Ayres was principal at both C. Leon King and Walter L. Sickles high schools. Van Ayres Sr. taught career technical education for 33 years at Phillip Leto High School.
The younger Ayres held his first teaching job, in science, at Howard W. Blake High School.
No stranger to the ways of education, Ayres gave a shout-out to the teachers, administrators and support staff who created “an environment where our students could reach their full potential.”
“It is my hope that as our graduates start this next chapter in their lives, they can draw from the knowledge, skills and numerous experiences obtained here in Hillsborough County public schools,” Ayres said.
As for the largest graduating classes, Sumner, with 806 graduates, is third on the list behind Joe E. Newsome High School in Lithia and Middleton High in Tampa, tied with 855 graduates each, according to school district statistics distributed May 8.
Fourth on the list was Riverview (640). In the 13th, 19th and 20th spots, respectively, were Lennard (500), East Bay (417) and Spoto (410). Overall, Riverview area schools accounted for 1,856 graduates, or 13.3 percent of all traditional high school graduates.
For signs that south county growth is ongoing, look no further than the bevy of charter schools operating and set to open in the area, and High School UUU, billed as being both in size and cost two times greater than any other public school the district has built. The $175 million, 359,000-square-foot, three-story building is set to open for the start of the 2025-26 year. With 3,428 student stations, the school will relieve enrollment crunches at Lennard and Sumner high schools. Just south of Sun City Boulevard, off West Lake Drive, High School UUU will share an 87-acre greenfield site with a new elementary and middle school.
All three schools, which will share a central energy plant, are set to open at about the same time this year’s graduating seniors get set to complete their post-secondary studies and/or advance in their career and trade pursuits.
Meanwhile, school officials are taking pause to reflect on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on traditional education settings.
“This year’s graduation cohort faced unique challenges, having entered ninth-grade during the 2019-20 school year, which was significantly impacted by COVID-19 closures,” Ayres said. Officials note that while the district’s graduation rate experienced a slight decrease of 1.7 percentage points to 86.2 percent from last year, it aligns with the pre-pandemic graduation rate in 2018-19.
According to school officials, “the 2022–23 graduation rate represents the second highest in the district’s history, following the exceptional years of 2019–20 and 2020–21, when classes were exempt from statewide standardized assessment requirements due to the pandemic.” Officials take this to mean that there was “no sustained learning loss” for this year’s graduates due to the pandemic.
Among the seven institutions noted for their “remarkable achievements” in graduation rate increases were East Bay High (2.8 percent), Sumner High (2.7 percent) and the South County Career Acceleration Academy (2.2 percent).
Among those noted for maintaining an “impressive graduation rate above 95 percent” were Riverview High (95 percent) and Newsome High School (98.9 percent). Rounding out the list were Tampa Bay Tech (95.7 percent), Strawberry Crest (95.1 percent), Alonso and Sickles (96.1 percent), Steinbrenner (96.3 percent) and Plant (97.2 percent).
Graduation dates for area schools were May 21 for Sumner High and the South County Career Acceleration Academy, and May 22 for Riverview High. Upcoming ceremonies are May 26, 8:30 a.m. for Lennard High; May 26, 3:30 p.m. for Spoto High; and May 28 at noon for East Bay High.
For friends and loved ones unable to attend, graduation ceremonies will be aired live at https://hillsboroughschools.tv/ and also at Spectrum cable channel 365 and Frontier cable channel 32. For more, visit www.hillsboroughschools.org/.