By B.C. Manion
Gates High School has closed for the upcoming school year, according to a letter posted by John Leaver, chairman of the school’s board of directors.
Leaver posted the news in a letter to parents posted on the school’s website.
“It is with an extremely heavy heart that I am writing this email,” Leaver wrote.
The high school program has been housed in a rental space on Florida Avenue, awaiting the development of a middle and high school campus off Sunset Lane and US 41 in Lutz.
That proposed site off Sunset Lane, however, met heavy resistance from area residents, wound up in a court battle and the issue remains unresolved.
Mike White, founder of the Lutz Citizens Coalition, has led the opposition to the proposed school site. The group doesn’t object to the school itself, only its proposed location, White said.
White said he’d heard the idea of putting the middle and high school site off Sunset Lane had been abandoned, but said he hasn’t received written confirmation to that effect. He also said opponents to the site on Sunset will continue pursuing their court case and other strategies, until they have official word that the site has been abandoned.
In his letter to parents, Leaver explained that when he joined the school’s board, he thought the schools could resolve the issues they faced.
“I still feel as though we could have made it work, but the obstacles that continued to be presented by the board of LGCS (Learning Gate Community School) pushed us too far down the road.
“The failure to prepare for another property and lack of planning on behalf of the boards has put the schools in a position where there was not enough space to house the two schools without some modification,” Leaver noted.
“Many of you have hung in there while we tried to figure out a possible solution, and I am very grateful for your faith and support. Like you, I am now forced to analyze my children’s schooling options. I also realize some of you have waited past the choice deadline and now have to scramble to find a school for your high schoolers,” he added.
“I will follow up this email with details as to what resources we can provide to help answer questions and direct you to any available resources,” he added.
“I wish all of you the best in the coming years and regret that we will not be able to fulfill the vision of the Gates High School,” Leaver wrote.
In other news, Patti Girard, who founded Learning Gate more than a quarter-century ago, is no longer with the school.
A request for more information about Girard’s departure was referred to Leaver, who could not be reached for comment on that issue or for more information about whether efforts to build a middle and high school site off Sunset Lane would now be abandoned.
Although the Florida Avenue location no longer will house high school students, it will continue to house seventh- and eighth-graders, as part of Learning Gates’ program.
Meanwhile, the Hillsborough County public school district is working with parents to help the students from Gates to transition to another high school, said Steve Hegarty, spokesman for the school district.
The district received word of the high school’s closing during the week of the Fourth of July holiday, Hegarty said.
There were 84 students enrolled in the Gates high school program last year, Hegarty said. Parents will have an option of choosing a choice school, a neighborhood school or a charter school, he added.
The school district’s Office of Student Planning & Placement, has reached out to parents to offer assistance in helping their children enroll in another school for the upcoming school year.
“We understand that uprooting your child at this time of year can place stress on families, and therefore, we are committed to helping you make an informed decision on a school for your child,” says a letter to parents from the Office of Student Planning & Placement.
The letter also included an application, inviting parents to indicate two Hillsborough County public schools they’re interested in having their child attend.
“Complete and submit the application and a placement specialist will call you to discuss the schools,” the letter says. The deadline for those applications is July 19.
Parents who have questions can contact the Choice Information Line at (813) 272-4692.
