More School Information 

Tampa Bay Area Schools and Colleges 

The public school system and public school funding in Florida is organized very differently compared to many areas of the United States. Lack of knowledge about how our public school system is organized and operates often leads newcomers to our state to form misconceptions about our schools.
In Florida, over 70% of the funding for schools is appropriated by the Florida State Legislature. The balance is funded by each of the 67 counties. The geographic boundaries of each school district are the geographic boundaries of the county the school district serves. Local control is county control subject to state and county mandates. If you are moving to the Tampa Bay area, you will most likely be locating in one of three counties -- Hillsborough County, Pinellas County or Pasco County.
Hillsborough County is on the east side of Tampa Bay and includes the cities of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City as well as significant unincorporated areas. It is the twelfth largest school district in the United States and the third largest in Florida. Hillsborough County has 133 elementary schools, 42 middle/junior high schools, 25 high schools and 4 career centers. There are 73 additional schools including Charter Schools, Magnet Schools, ESE, and Early Childhood schools. There are several specialized schools for students with special needs and some regular elementary schools house specialized programs for exceptional children. Most schools have a gifted program the extent of which is determined by the makeup of their student body.
Hillsborough County ranks first among the ten largest counties in Florida on the High School Competency Test taken by eleventh graders statewide with 93% of the students passing communications and 85% passing mathematics compared to 89% and 77% statewide respectively. ACT and SAT scores for college-bound juniors and seniors are above the state and national averages. The composite score on the ACT was 21.8; State and national composite was 20.8. The combined SAT average for Hillsborough County seniors is 906, above the state average of 879 and the national average of 902. Hillsborough County has led the state for nine years in numbers of seniors named Florida Academic Scholars and Florida Undergraduate Fund Scholars. It has led the state for two years in County participants in the Advanced Placement Program offering college courses to high school juniors and seniors. It has three high schools, Hillsborough High School, King High School, and Robinson High School which offer the prestigious International Baccalaureate program.