![Hillsborough County schools superintendent Jeff Eakins with Mango Elementary principal Felicia Davis, right, who has been targeted for removal. [Twitter]](http://www.tampabay.com/storyimage/HI/20180118/ARTICLE/301189473/AR/0/AR-301189473.jpg?MaxW=2000 "Hillsborough County schools superintendent Jeff Eakins with Mango Elementary principal Felicia Davis, right, who has been targeted for removal. [Twitter]")
![Palm River Elementary is one of four Hillsborough schools that are under state orders to get new principals. [TWITTER photo]](http://www.tampabay.com/storyimage/HI/20180118/ARTICLE/301189415/AR/0/AR-301189415.jpg&MaxW=600&imageVersion=Rotator)
Hillsborough County schools superintendent Jeff Eakins tried to explain to the Florida Board of Education on Wednesday why he had delayed making leadership changes at four elementary schools with persistently low state test scores. The board didn't want to hear it. Now he's negotiating with the Department of Education over his next steps. Reporters Jeff Solochek and Marlene Sokol discuss the latest in this ongoing story on today's Gradebook podcast.
- Education news and notes from Tampa Bay and Florida
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Gradebook podcast: Behind the state’s searing appraisal of Hillsborough schools
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Eakins on teachers at schools under state scrutiny: “They were doing a high quality job.”
Returning to Tampa after Wednesday’s beat-down by the state Board of Education in Tallahassee, Hillsborough Superintendent Jeff Eakins took time to answer our questions about the four schools who will need new principals — Mango, Pa...
Updated: 1 hour ago
USF President Genshaft takes no stance on consolidation proposal
In her first public statement about a controversial proposal to consolidate the University of South Florida System's three universities, President Judy Genshaft did not take a stance.Instead, Genshaft sought to reassure students and faculty...
Updated: 2 hours ago
Gradebook podcast: Behind the state’s searing appraisal of Hillsborough schools
Hillsborough County schools superintendent Jeff Eakins tried to explain to the Florida Board of Education on Wednesday why he had delayed making leadership changes at four elementary schools with persistently low state test scores. The board didn't w...
Updated: 3 hours ago
Following proposal to consolidate USF universities, trustees to hold conference call
Some University of South Florida trustees will hold a conference call to discuss the legislative session on Friday, one week after a proposal emerged in Tallahassee that would consolidate three USF System universities into one.Presiden...
Updated: 4 hours ago
Florida class size violations continue to dwindle
A shrinking number of Florida schools were in violation of the state's 2002 class size amendment in the fall, reflective of a growing dependence on schoolwide averages rather than classroom counts.The Florida Department of Education reported that...
Updated: 6 hours ago
What Teacher of the Year Bonnie Bresnyan wrote shows us how she won
This is Bonnie Bresnyan, disco dancing across the stage at Tampa’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts to the strains of “Let’s Groove” by Earth, Wind and Fire. She did so twice during Tuesday’s Teacher of the Yea...
Updated: 6 hours ago
East Pasco County parents ask for changes to high school graduation times
Rivals on the field and off, Pasco and Zephyrhills high schools generally have little to do with one another, despite sitting just nine miles apart.When it comes to graduation, though, some parents want to make sure they get to both schools...
Updated: 10 hours ago
Florida education news: School leadership, Schools of Hope, school choice and more
LEADERSHIP: The Florida Board of Education has insisted over the past few years that schools with consistently poor performance on state tests get new principals. This week, it targeted four Hillsborough County schools for their failure to follo...
Published: 01/18/18
Four schools are ordered to get new principals
Dover Elementary Principal Kayla Forcucci [TBO}Palm River Elementary principal Dawn Stites [HCPS]Pizzo Elementary School during Hurricane Irma [TIMES]It was an abrupt turn of events on Wednesday when the state Board of Education ordered Hillsborough ...
Updated: 11 hours ago
Florida House advances proposal to limit school board member terms
Term limits for Florida's school board members, already a controversial proposal before the Constitution Revision Commission, surfaced in the Florida House PreK-12 Quality subcommittee on Wednesday.The measure, also a proposed constitutional amendmen...
Updated: 11 hours ago