TAMPA, Fla. — The Hillsborough County School Board voted 4 to 3 to close Ernest E. Just Elementary School in West Tampa at the end of the school year. 

What You Need To Know

  • Hillsborough County School Board votes 4-3 to shut down Ernest E. Just Elementary  

  • School is facing a declining population and failing test scores 

  • Just Elementary has a population of 283 students but can hold up to 600 

  • School will shut down at the end of the school year 

According to Nadia Combs, the board chair, the elementary school has consistently underperformed and has a dwindling student population. The facility can support 600 students but currently has just 283. 

The students will be moved to nearby Tampa Bay Boulevard and Booker T. Washington elementary schools. Combs says that both schools are ready to take on the new students.

"You are taking kids from an "F" school for many years and moving them to a school that was almost a "B," and at the end of the day, that's good for students," she said.

There is some concern about how this will impact families who live near the school or how this might change it.

Yvette Lewis, the president of the Hillsborough chapter of the NAACP, says Just Elementary shouldn't be shut down.

"It's history. It's our history. It's about the kids," Lewis said. "We don't want them to be uprooted and leave their community. These kids have been through enough."

The district says that closing the school could help to save more than a million dollars a year. Also, the staff will be moved to the two elementary schools or other areas in the district.

A final vote on the school's fate will be held on May 9.