School Board Approves New Tampa Academy Application

Hillsborough County students might have their choice of 10 new charter schools in the coming years, including the controversial New Tampa Academy.

The Hillsborough County School Board approved 10 charter school applications last night. Other schools also approved include the Hillsborough Academy of Math and Science, Channelside Academy Middle School and GATES Senior High School, which would pull students from the already operational Learning Gate Community School in Lutz, according to The St. Petersburg Times.

would open in August 2012 at the intersection of Highwoods Preserve Parkway and Brinegar Circle. The school will serve kindergarten through eighth-grade students with a proposed enrollment of 665 students in the first year. Plans are to eventually grow the campus to 960 students.

The proposed charter school has been a bone of contention in New Tampa where residents have said another school isn’t needed.

“We are against the charter school on Highwoods Preserve,” @TampaGurlFl wrote in a Tweet. When asked why, the local resident wrote, “read up on charter schools" and added she had traffic concerns.

New Tampa Patch Reader Joe Toth has a different take on the issue.

“Whether the current school system is a sham or needs improvement, choices for parents and their kids is a positive thing,” he wrote in . “My mother has worked for both public & charter school systems. The good far outweighs the negative aspects in her opinion.”

While the school has received the green light from the district, it must still . That topic is expected to be addressed during the council's Jan. 12 meeting.