Story thread · 6 reports / 5 sources

Tampa Bay students head back to school next week. What’s new?

tampabay.com · 3dShare

That’s it. Summer break is a wrap. Teachers headed back to their classrooms starting Aug. 3, with students set to show up this week — Hillsborough on Monday, Pinellas on Tuesday and Pasco on Thursday. They return with high hopes for continued academic gains, after all three districts posted some of their best results on state tests in decades. At the same time, budgetary constraints have the potential to hinder the work, as districts confront shrinking revenue because of decreasing enrollment, while the price tag for items including health insurance and utilities goes up. Many of the culture wars from past years have subsided. But political realities, from Pasco’s property tax referendum to Hillsborough’s pending vote on whether to have an elected superintendent, still loom over public education in Tampa Bay and across Florida. The goal, Pinellas County Superintendent Kevin Hendrick said, is to not allow daily business operations to interfere with the priority of getting children ready

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