TAMPA, Fla. — A fight to save a Hillsborough County school is gaining momentum.
Teachers, staff, and families are rallying around Pizzo K-8, searching for ways to keep the school open after a lease dispute between the district and the University of South Florida, with one school board member calling it an “economic eviction.”
What You Need To Know
A large group of teachers, staff, parents, and students spent one of their days during spring break rallying to keep Pizzo K-8 open.
With 900 students, the school sits on USF Tampa’s campus and the district pays for an annual lease for the property, which was $60,000 per year. It’s now up for renewal, but with different terms.
The superintendent says it will end up costing the district around $16.5 million total to keep Pizzo open for the next 10 years.
BELOW: Full statements from school system, USF
A large group of teachers, staff, parents, and students spent one of their days during spring break rallying to keep Pizzo K-8 open.
“Pizzo is like a family. Every time you walk around, somebody knows your name. Even if they don’t, like if it’s your first day of school, everyone treats you like family,” said Morgan Money, a former Pizzo K-8 student.
The culture built at Pizzo K-8 is what they say makes the school special and worth fighting for. With 900 students, the school sits on USF Tampa’s campus and the district pays for an annual lease for the property, which was $60,000 per year. It’s now up for renewal, but with different terms.
“The lease introduces substantial annual costs, rent of $550,000 with a 3% increase each year along with additional costs for maintenance, parking and security,” Superintendent Van Ayres at the March 10 board meeting.
Ayres says it will end up costing the district around $16.5 million total to keep Pizzo open for the next 10 years, which he said isn’t feasible.
“I can’t imagine the message our students are receiving seeing that the university is giving us what’s called an ‘economic eviction’,” said Karen Perez, School Board Chair.
A large group of teachers, staff, parents, and students spent one of their days during spring break rallying to keep Pizzo K-8 open. (Spectrum News/Fallon Silcox)
In a statement, USF said, in part: “The new rent rate is more closely aligned with the rates for the university’s other on-campus sublease agreements. The old rent rate was established in the 1990’s and was aligned with rates at that time without economic escalators.”
And while the people rallying to keep Pizzo K-8 open say their best case scenario is to stay right where they are, next best is to at least be able to stay together.
“Our hope is can we keep our children together. It’s already going to be a huge transition for them to be leaving the school they’ve been with all along that their brothers and sisters have, and for some of ours, their parents, too. So if we can help and support them by keeping them with our teachers, with their friends, we feel like that’s the best measure of success for them,” said Anita Bloom, a teacher at Pizzo K-8.
The current proposal re-assigns Pizzo students in grades K-5 to five other elementary schools, and students in grades 6-8 would attend their zoned middle schools, an option current students hope they reconsider.
“We can lose the building, we can lose our space, but we can never lose our community. If you separate the community you make everything we’ve worked for over the years fall apart,” said Blake Marsh, an eighth-grader at Pizzo.
Students say this is a fight they aren’t giving up anytime soon.
Hillsborough County Schools issued a statement saying in part that, “The school district should not be charged the market rate. Market rates are typically intended for businesses that operation storefronts and generate revenue from customers. As a non-profit school district, our role is different — we partner with organizations to help prepare the next generation of educators in support of our students.”
The school board is set to vote on plans for Pizzo at their next board meeting on April 7.
HILLSBOROUGH SCHOOLS STATEMENT
The school district should not be charged the market rate. Market rates are typically intended for businesses that operate storefronts and generate revenue from customers. As a non-profit school district, our role is different—we partner with organizations to help prepare the next generation of educators in support of our students.
Additionally, district leadership has never said this was a choice between deferred maintenance projects. Each year, the district invests millions of dollars in deferred maintenance and repairs across our schools. Pizzo would be treated no differently than any other school with ongoing maintenance needs.
USF FULL STATEMENT
USF recognizes the importance of our partnerships with local school districts. The university plays a key role in teacher preparation and certification for the Tampa Bay region and in providing master’s and doctoral degree programs to support the development of counselors, principals, superintendents and other K-12 leadership positions.
USF and the Hillsborough County School District had been involved in discussions for three years about renewing the sublease for Pizzo Elementary, prior to the end of the original sublease. Back in 2024, USF and HCSD entered into a new ten-year sublease. The new rent rate is more closely aligned with the rates for the university’s other on-campus sublease agreements. The old rent rate was established in the 1990’s and was aligned with rates at that time without economic escalators.
As the building is approximately 30 years old, it has significant deferred maintenance requirements and needs repairs, such as a new roof and HVAC upgrades. As per the terms of the original sublease agreement, these repairs are the responsibility of the school district. Rather than undertaking major maintenance requirements, the school board elected to demolish the building at the end of the term.
The university has not yet determined next steps for this land after the sublease expires or is terminated.