HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Hillsborough County School Board held a workshop Monday to discuss school boundary changes, and the newest scenario recommended by Superintendent Addison Davis.

That recommendation — "Scenario four" — shuffles 15,000 students to different schools instead of the more than 20,000 students that would be impacted in other scenarios.

The option also saves the district $12.8 million annually.

Monday was the first time all Hillsborough County School Board members got a chance to discuss school boundary changes and Davis's recommendation.

School Board members agree that more needs to be done, but said the degree of change and a timeline still need to be discussed.

"I appreciate Scenario 4, but I don't think it's aggressive enough," said board Chair Nadia Combs. "I think we need to do more. I do appreciate the plan of repurposing slowly.” 

District 3 member Jessica Vaughn said she thinks it's possible to develop a scenario that helps the district on several different levels.

"Let's come up with a plan that really saves us money, that addresses our teacher's needs, that engages our school, that gets feedback from our community and impacts our students in the best ways possible," she said.

From pushing planning another year and adding a fifth option, to coming back for more workshops, board members talked about the toll the boundary change situation has taken on them, students, teachers and parents.

Those parents include Michele Gonzalez.

“Today we were hoping for good news, but it seems like there's going to be a lot more discussion and going back to the drawing board,” Gonzalez said. “It sounds like it's going to be drawn out a lot more."

If approved, Scenario 4 would not go into effect this school year but would the following year.

District officials said they were initially planning to implement the changes this fall — some of which could have impacted as many as 24,000 students. Many parents were upset about the potential changes and complained of a lack of available information.

Davis said he hopes this will give parents more time to attend school-based tours, events and orientations at their new school. He added the fourth proposal would not alter the boundaries for Plant High and Coleman Middle schools in South Tampa.

"One thing we can't do is nothing. We can't do nothing," Davis said. "No different than we've had to address the financial stability of this school district and address the underperformance of academics."

The next series of public meetings where community members can weigh in starts on Feb. 20.