By LINDA CHION KENNEY
As a “promising solution” to recruit and retain highly qualified classroom teachers in an increasingly competitive marketplace, Hillsborough school officials are working hard to convince voters to approve a millage referendum at the polls in November.
The bulk of the $177 million generated annually would fund $6,000 salary supplements for teachers, principals and assistant principals and $3,000 salary supplements for support staff, including bus drivers and school nutrition workers.
Roughly $150 million would go to district schools, with another $26.6 million earmarked for charter schools, based on enrollment figures. The millage would face voter approval every four years.
With 92 percent of the funds earmarked for competitive pay, the remaining 8 percent reportedly would cover a full day of voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) for public school students to prepare for kindergarten; hiring a college and career counselor at every high school; adding new sports options and replacing worn physical education and recess equipment; creating learning field trips at every grade level, with no cost to parents; and creating new exhibits at Nature’s Classroom, a unique outdoor learning experience along the Hillsborough County River, for third-grade students.
According to school officials, voters have approved millage referendums in 25 of Florida’s 67 counties, covering two-thirds of Florida’s population, generating a combined $2.14 billion for schools each year. Hillsborough, the third largest district in the state, behind Miami-Dade and Broward, has yet to approve a millage referendum for schools.
Moreover, Hillsborough is the only county in a six-county area, which includes Hernando, Pasco, Manatee and Sarasota, that has not approved a 1.0 millage referendum. The sixth county, Pinellas, has a 0.5 millage for schools, and this year seeks to secure another 0.5 millage. As Hillsborough school officials put it, “we simply cannot compete with neighboring counties who have an additional millage.”
If the millage referendum is approved in Hillsborough, property owners would pay $1 for every $1,000 in taxable value. According to the Hillsborough County Appraiser’s Office, the value of a typical home in the county is $306,000. Minus the $25,000 homestead exemption, that leaves $281,000 in taxable income. Thus, the millage tax to the owner of that home amounts to $281, roughly 77 cents per day.
According to school officials, the starting salary for a teacher in Hillsborough County is $48,000, which ranks behind Manatee ($57,572), Sarasota ($55,000), Pinellas ($52,000) and Pasco ($49,000). The average pay for a bus driver in Hillsborough is $25,938, which is below Sarasota ($36,376), Manatee ($33,943) and Pinellas ($27,271), but above Pasco ($21,682). The average pay for an assistant principal in Hillsborough is $68,056, which is below Sarasota ($105,330), Manatee ($88,572), Pinellas ($78,313) and Pasco ($72,798).
School officials say they expect every student to arrive to school on time and to have high-quality teachers in the classroom every day. They note that with roughly 150 bus driver vacancies, “8,000 students arrive late to school on a typical day.” And with more than 500 teacher vacancies, “10,000 students did not have a full-time teacher on the first day of school.” It’s noted as well that several school administrators, “who set the school culture and expectations,” have left for other districts, receiving greater pay for driving a bit farther to work.
The road to this year’s Nov. 5 general election ballot was a rocky one, with the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners voting to move the millage referendum to the 2026 ballot. The vote was 4-3, with the board’s four Republican commissioners in the majority. The school board, which approved the referendum in a split vote, also in a split vote moved to appeal the county board’s action to delay.
The court ruled in favor of the school district’s appeal, which means the millage referendum is on this year’s ballot. With the drive now to convince voters to rule in its favor, Bob Kriete, president of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association, plays an essential role.
“We can’t afford not to ask for the sake of our students,” Kriete said, in a news video at the second of five scheduled town hall meetings hosted by school officials. “We have thousands of kids out there who don’t have a qualified teacher in front of them, and we feel like we owe it to them to do what we can to get them those teachers.”
The last of the five town hall meetings is scheduled for Oct. 21 at Middleton High School in Tampa. It follows the Sept. 30 meeting held at Riverview High, and the three meetings before that, at Plant City, Gaither and Alonso high schools.
For more on the millage referendum, visit www.hillsboroughschools.org and search for “millage referendum overview.”
