Tampa Public Schools: Hillsborough County Public Schools Explained

Every traditional public school in Tampa belongs to Hillsborough County Public Schools, a single countywide district with its headquarters on East Kennedy Boulevard in downtown Tampa.

The same district serves Temple Terrace, Plant City, Brandon and the rest of Hillsborough County, and NCES classifies its locale as Suburban, Large, the label NCES gives the county system as a whole rather than the city.

The federal Common Core of Data lists the district as Hillsborough, NCES District ID 1200870 and state district FL-29, with a main phone of (813) 272-4000 and grades from prekindergarten through 12 (NCES district detail). Its 2025-2026 directory counts 294 schools. Older Tampa pages, including earlier versions of this one, cited 305 schools and about 224,000 students from a commercial ranking site; the federal directory figure is the one to use.

Because the City of Tampa does not run schools, school questions go to the district, not City Hall. A family moving to Seminole Heights, Westchase or New Tampa uses the same district tools: the HCPS website carries a neighborhood school finder and a page of Hillsborough choice options (Hillsborough County Public Schools). For 2026-2027, a May 29, 2026 enrollment notice from Hammond Elementary points families to registration through the district's FOCUS Parent Portal (Hammond Elementary enrollment notice). Magnet and charter options have their own Digital Towns guides in this Tampa schools section.

Hillsborough County Public Schools enrolled 220,360 students in the 2024-2025 school year with 11,163.12 full-time-equivalent classroom teachers, a ratio of 19.74 students per teacher, according to NCES.

The same Hillsborough record shows a staff count of 24,321.14, including 458.84 guidance counselors and 71.10 school psychologists (NCES district detail). The money figures lag the enrollment figures by two years: in 2022-2023 the district took in $3,089,516,000, or $13,759 per student, with 42% from local sources, 40% from the state and 18% from federal programs. Instruction took $6,626 per student, 63% of current spending, and construction spending reached $370,807,000 that year.

For a Tampa reader the practical point is scale: with a staff count of 24,321.14 in 2024-2025 and $370,807,000 in construction spending in 2022-2023, Hillsborough County Public Schools makes decisions on boundaries, magnet seats and new schools for the whole county, not for Tampa alone.

Hillsborough County Public Schools earned an A district grade from the Florida Department of Education in 2026, which the district announced on July 1, 2026 as its first A in more than a decade.

Of the 214 traditional Hillsborough schools that received a grade, 127 earned an A or a B; A-rated schools rose to 74 from 70 and B-rated schools to 53 from 44 (HCPS, July 1, 2026). The district tied the result to the highest graduation rate in its history and a higher college and career acceleration rate, and said every Transformation Network school earned an A, B or C for the first time. Several Tampa campuses were among the biggest gainers, and other schools on the district's list held a grade while adding points: Sulphur Springs K-8 gained 99 points and stayed a C, Adum K-8 gained 92 points and stayed an A, and Memorial Middle gained 89 points and stayed a C.

The addresses matter because Hillsborough County Public Schools is countywide: Wilson Elementary, one of the two schools that jumped from D to B, is in Plant City, not Tampa, while B.T. Washington Elementary sits on Estelle Street in Tampa and enrolled 276 students in 2024-2025 (NCES school search). Middleton High on North 22nd Street, one of the high schools on the list, enrolled 1,637 students that year (NCES school search).

A check worth making before relying on any single grade: the Florida Department of Education school grades page lists the 2026 results packet and a grading scale changes overview, both updated September 8, 2026, more than two months after the district's announcement (Florida Department of Education, school grades). The state's district and school grade spreadsheets on that page are the official record, so a Tampa family comparing schools should read the grade from the state file rather than from a July news item.

Schools that serve special populations are rated differently. Alternative and exceptional student education centers can choose a School Improvement Rating instead of a letter grade, and in 2025-26 five Hillsborough centers earned the top rating of Commendable, up from three, including the Medical Academy at D.W. Waters, Simmons Career Center, South County Career Center, PACE Center for Girls and Willis Peters Exceptional Center (HCPS, July 1, 2026). Florida grades schools on five areas: student achievement, learning gains, graduation rate, acceleration rate and outcomes for students who need the most support.

The school millage that Hillsborough County voters approved in November 2024 raises about $177 million a year, and the district says 92 percent of it goes to teacher and staff pay through a yearly adjustment of $3,000 or $6,000 depending on position.

Part of the money passes to charter schools as state law requires (HCPS, June 3, 2026). The district's June 3, 2026 summary lists the rest: $1.9 million for field trips for 135,000 students, covering admission and transportation; full school-day VPK at no cost for nearly 2,000 students; an estimated $37 million over five years to upgrade or replenish K-12 physical education equipment at 212 school sites; and a college and career counselor at each of the district's 29 high schools.

Superintendent Van Ayres leads Hillsborough County Public Schools under an appointed system, and a 2026 state law asks Hillsborough voters whether to make the post elected in a referendum held with the 2026 general election.

Ayres is quoted as superintendent in the district's July 1, 2026 grade announcement (HCPS). The change would come through HB 4027, a local bill that provides for an elected superintendent of schools; it passed the House 86 to 26 and the Senate 36 to 0, was approved by the Governor on June 8, 2026 and became Chapter No. 2026-196 (Florida Senate, HB 4027). Its key section takes effect only if a majority of Hillsborough County voters approve it in that referendum.

Advanced coursework is where the district markets itself hardest. HCPS says its apprenticeship programs serve more than 4,500 apprentices and lead Florida, that students took more than 30,000 AP exams and more than 17,000 dual enrollment courses, and that 90 percent of its IB students earned the IB Diploma (Hillsborough County Public Schools home page). It also reports more than 29,000 AICE exams and a Cambridge Large District of the Year title. These are district statements without a stated school year, so Tampa families comparing high schools should ask each campus for its own figures. Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the Hillsborough County Public Schools website, the NCES district record and the Florida Senate bill page.