How different will 2026 look from this past year in Hillsborough County schools?

At a recent Hillsborough school board workshop, board members talked through a range of issues they may or may not update in the next policy cycle, which begins next year.

Among them: Vaping, student wellness, bullying and the process for parents to complain about classroom materials.

The board is required to review its policies at least every two years. The changes will be presented at hearings early next year, where the public will have a chance to weigh in before the board takes a final vote.

Here are the changes that are moving forward — as well as a few topics of concern that aren’t likely to get new policies in 2026.

Vaping

The school board recently moved forward a policy that would expand the definition of tobacco free environments to include “nicotine-dispensing devices,” which are not limited to e-cigarettes, e-cigars, e-pipes and replacement cartridges.

The district will also expand signage to clearly indicate “no tobacco or vaping” is permitted around school facilities.

Deputy superintendent Chris Farkas said after a pilot program in some high school bathrooms this fall, the district plans to install sensors at all high schools in the spring. The sensors, designed by Motorola, go off when they detect vaping. Paired with hallway cameras to see who is entering and exiting the restrooms, they have helped identify students who vape.

“It’s a huge epidemic in our schools,” board member Jessica Vaughn said. “When we have our student forums, the students who come say one of the biggest concerns is vaping and what’s happening in the bathroom.”

Bus policies

The board also advanced a policy that would allow school bus drivers to be trained to manage student behavior and allow the district to establish more policies about entering and exiting buses. The policy states that students are required to remain seated; follow driver instructions; use low voices; and keep their hands, feet and objects to themselves. It also applies the district’s bullying policies to buses.

The amendments come after increased reports of bus fights, board members said.

“I fear for the safety of other students as well as our bus drivers Perez said.

Reserve funds

School board members also moved forward a policy that would require the district to maintain a reserve funding balance double what the state requires — 7% instead of 3%.

The district’s chief financial officer said if the reserve were to fall below the required 3%, the superintendent would have to notify the state. If it didn’t improve in two years, the state could issue mandates controlling the district.

Though board members expressed concerns over their ability to continue to provide teachers with raises, they supported securing the district’s long-term financial viability amid a rocky relationship with the state.

“I am just not going to be responsible for the financial decline and takeover by the state of this district,” board member Stacy Hahn said. “They get rid of the superintendent, they get rid of every board member, they get rid of the CFO, and the state runs the district.”

The state has also looked at changing some policies down the road, or not changing them at all. Among them:

Wellness

The board deferred putting forth a policy dealing with state law changes, including a free employee assistance program, changing “sexual health education” to “reproductive health and disease prevention,” requiring 150 additional minutes of physical education for K-5 students and banning food-related fundraisers until 30 minutes after the last lunch period at a school.

Board member Jessica Vaughn pointed to a previous meeting where a kindergarten teacher cried while telling the board about how overwhelmed she was this year.

“We’re putting the responsibility of the state-mandated time on our kindergarten teachers, who are already overworked,” she said. “I understand that all teachers are certified to teach P.E., but that time with an actual P.E. teacher is a concern to me.”

Bullying and harassment

The board did not hear amendments to the bullying and harassment policy at its workshop, which would add to the policy hate speech, defined as any conduct or communication “demeaning another individual on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, national origin of descent, health status, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by federal law.” The policy will be heard at a later workshop.

Public complaints

A new policy proposed by Hillsborough Superintendent Van Ayres would have struck a passage out about “matters regarding instructional materials” from the existing public complaint policy and created a separate one called “public complaints regarding courses of study.”

The new policy would have explicitly stated that the board was committed to providing materials “in accordance with Florida statute and Florida Department of Education rules.” It also would have said the superintendent would develop a procedure to handle objections to books and other materials, and that the board would “provide open access to all materials.” The policy also said no material could be removed except by action of the board.

The board failed to reach consensus that a new policy was needed. Board member Jessica Vaughn worried it would box them in.

“We’re going to follow the law,” she said. “If the commissioner or somebody contacts us and they say we’re breaking the law (over a book), it’s going to be removed. But I don’t need this policy. I think it creates less flexibility. I think it creates more problems.”

Others felt it was redundant.

“We’re going to refer to the law no matter what,” board member Nadia Combs said. “We have the law. We have a policy.”