The beginning of the 2026-27 school year in Hillsborough County (unfortunately for our schedule) began on Aug. 10, or the day after we went to press with this issue.
And, while we did not get to interview new Freedom High principal Deanna McCahan (right) before school started, we did chat with (and photographer Charmaine George got a few pictures of) new Chiles Elementary principal Kelly Wackes.
In her Principal’s Message on Freedom’s web page on the HillsboroughSchools.org website, McCahan (who spent the last five years as principal at Shields Middle School in Ruskin, said, “As your principal, I am thrilled to welcome you to another exciting school year. Our dedicated staff is committed to providing a supportive and challenging environment where every student can thrive. We believe in fostering a community of respect, responsibility, and excellence. Whether you are a returning student or new to our school, we are here to support you every step of the way. Let’s make this year memorable and full of achievements.”
McCahan succeeds Kevin Stephenson, who is the new principal this year of Sgt. Smith Middle School in the Citrus Park area.
Welcome, Kelly!
Kelly Wackes is already a familiar face to many New Tampa residents, as she served as the assistant principal at Clark Elementary in West Meadows for the past five years and has been part of Hillsborough County Public Schools for the last 11 years — first as a math coach and then as a teacher.
“This week, getting to know the staff has been amazing,” Wackes told me just before the 2026-27 school year began. “Everyone has been so welcoming.”
She said she is proud to be the new principal at Chiles, as this is the school’s 25th year of existence, “and it’s never been anything other than an ‘A’-rated school,” she said. “And, all of us — the teachers, staff, parents and students — are committed to continuing that tradition of excellence. Our motto this year is, ‘Honoring the Past, Soaring into the Future.’”
Wackes, who holds a Master of Education (MEd) degree from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, said her oldest child is entering the 4th grade and is still at Clark, “but my youngest is starting Kindergarten with me at Chiles. I’m so excited for this year!”
She added that the 25th anniversary celebration for Chiles has been temporarily set by the District for March 5, 2027. — GN
Eight of New Tampa’s eleven Hillsborough County public schools have earned “A” grades from the Florida Department of Education (DoE) this year, including Tampa Palms Elementary, which improved from the “B” it received in 2025.
Only three schools in New Tampa received either a “B” or a “C” grade, including Turner-Bartels K-8 School, which dropped from an “A” in 2025 to a “B” this year. Wharton High also received a “B,” after earning a “C” in both 2024 and 2025, and Freedom High received a “C” again this year.
Overall, the Hillsborough School District received its first-ever “A” grade from the Florida DoE, after earning a “B” each of the last two years.
The Neighborhood News applauds the excellence of our New Tampa schools.
Congratulations to all 21 public and charter schools located in Wesley Chapel, none of which earned lower than a “B” grade from the Florida Department of Education (DoE) for 2026, and a record 18 of those schools earned “A” grades!
Perhaps the biggest news was that New River Elementary improved its grade from a “D” last year to an “A” this year, although seven other schools — Double Branch, Veterans & Wiregrass elementary schools, Cypress Creek and Weightman middle schools, Innovation Preparatory Academy and Wesley Chapel High all improved from a “B” to an “A,” and Watergrass Elementary improved from a “C” to a “B.”
Also, not one school located in Wesley Chapel received a lower grade this year than last, and overall, the Pasco School District received its first-ever “A” grade from the Florida DoE.
“This achievement reflects the incredible dedication of our teachers, support staff, administrators, students and families,” said Pasco Superintendent of Schools D. John Legg in a statement released by the District.
The Neighborhood News applauds the entire Pasco School District’s improvement and the amazing achievements of all 21 public and charter schools located in Wesley Chapel.
The Google Map above has been modified by the Neighborhood News to show the approximate locations of the four speed cameras that the City of Tampa now plans to place near (top-bottom) Turner/Bartels K-8 School, Benito Middle School, Freedom High/Liberty Middle School & Chiles Elementary.
Speed cameras could be coming soon to some New Tampa school zones.
During the June 4 Tampa City Council meeting, the seven Council members voted 6-1 to amend an ordinance allowing automated speed cameras to be placed within school zones around Tampa. The change would be an expansion of the current program in place.
Right now, there are cameras placed in 12 school zones, primarily in east Tampa. The expansion would include 18 additional school zones. Four of those are in New Tampa, affecting the following five schools — Benito Middle School, Lawton Chiles Elementary School, Liberty Middle School, Freedom High School and Turner-Bartels K-8 School.
District 7 Councilman Luis Viera, who voted for the amendment, confirmed that he has been spearheading the speed camera initiative. “I was the original maker of the motion that sought to implement the speed cameras for school zones, only in the city of Tampa, when the state statute was passed that allowed us to do this. I was very disappointed when New Tampa schools weren’t included,” Viera says, “so I worked very hard to make sure that these New Tampa schools were included. I made my message known that I wanted New Tampa schools in there as I have been hearing from constituents a lot. This is a really big deal for New Tampa, I believe, because speeding in our school zones is a big issue.”
During the June 4 meeting, Viera highlighted three New Tampa schools specifically that have a history of speeding problems. “Benito near Hunter’s Green and Arbor Greene — that’s a wonderful choice, I hear about a lot of speeding over there on Cross Creek Blvd.,” Viera said. “We also see Chiles Elementary, where my son went, when he was a kid, and I experienced a lot there, years ago, when I used to drop him off and pick him up. And then Liberty, which is right next to Freedom, and so again, I hear a lot from my constituents, especially on those three zones.”
He also added clarification about his position on the issue concerning fees and fines. “I’m not going to not enforce the law or not implement provisions that put penalties on people who go 15 miles in excess of the speed limit in a school zone,” Viera said.
While the vote to add cameras in those school zones passed, it was only a first reading.
The next step in the process, before the revised ordinance can be officially adopted, is to have a public hearing and a second reading. That is set to happen at the City Council meeting on Thursday, July 16. Council members also have the option to change their vote after the public hearing and second reading. They would just be required to state a reason for the change.
That may be unlikely to happen, as the Council members agreed that they want to prioritize school safety. However, some concerns were shared at the meeting about the possibility of camera files being subpoenaed by the federal government’s Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE).
However, Mike Schmid, the senior assistant city attorney for the city of Tampa, told the Council members that the camera files are not designed for that purpose and while they would have to comply with a federal subpoena, it would be a breach of contract between the city and RedSpeed, the vendor handling the cameras across the state, to use the camera files for anything other than speed monitoring.
The Council agreed that details of the ordinance will need to be reevaluated after the contract with RedSpeed expires in March 2027.
In the meantime, here is what you can expect if the amendment change passes after the July 16 second reading. The city will first hold a 30-day education period. This is when officials will distribute information online, and within the communities impacted by the speed cameras, notifying people about the implementation, and where the cameras will be placed. During this 30-day period, violators caught on camera will be issued a warning that will be mailed to their residences. Signage (graphic, right) also will be placed in the school zones, clearly alerting drivers about the presence of cameras.
After the 30-day education period ends, fines will be issued to any violators driving more than 10 miles per hour over the posted school zone speed limit. However, if a police officer is at a school zone, monitoring speed with radar, that officer can issue fines at their discretion, at any speed over the posted school zone speed limit. The cameras will be active only during school hours, and the “civil penalty” fines will be $100. According to the ordinance, any violations caught by automatic cameras will not add any points to the violators’ driving records — even, according to Schmid, if the fines go unpaid. But of course, unpaid fines can lead to additional monetary penalties.
The proposal to add more cameras are coming after RedSpeed completed a school zone speed study for the City of Tampa at 29 schools, each lasting two days, back in April. That study produced an average of from more than 200 violations per day to more than 3,000 violations per day, with Turner-Bartels having among the most violations.
Editor’s Note — As the Midterm Election season begins to heat up in both Hillsborough and Pasco Counties — and throughout the entire State of Florida — we will attempt to preview as many of the local races in which voters in New Tampa & Wesley Chapel can cast ballots between now and the Primary Election on Tuesday, August 18, and continuing up until the General Election on Tuesday, November 3. Our first preview is the nonpartisan District 6 Hillsborough School Board race between the two-term incumbent (and current Board Chair) Karen Perez and her opponents Sally Harris Williamson and Kenneth “Ken” Gay.
Two-term District 6 incumbent Karen Perez, 62, is the only candidate of the three who has ever lived in New Tampa and she has been both the chair and vice-chair during her eight years on School Board.
Karen has seen — and had to deal with — all of the changes happening throughout the District. She and her fellow School Board members also unanimously voted last month to put extending the half-cent sales tax that — according to Superintendent of Schools Van Ayres — has already funded 910 completed projects, to the tune of $1.25 billion, thanks to the first eight years of the tax. The original half-penny sales tax will expire in 2028 unless voters approve extending it for ten more years.
As for what Karen thinks are the major accomplishments the School Board has made during her tenure, she says that the graduation rates at both Wharton and Freedom have gone up during her tenure. “And, across the District, we’re up to a 93% graduation rate, which is great,” she says. “But this year, we want to look at that 7% who didn’t graduate and see what they need, and put those services and supports in place to get that remaining 7% over that threshold.”
Karen also mentions that throughout the Tampa Bay area, “a lot of students didn’t go to school (this year) because of ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) — because they were afraid. But, we didn’t have too much of that in New Tampa.”
She added, however, that a few years ago, “There were a lot of kids skipping school, hanging out at the Walmart (next to Wharton) and we had complaints from Walmart about those students, but that’s tapered down, so I’m excited about that change, too.”
Karen also says that she attended this year’s awards ceremony at Freedom High and Liberty Middle School, and a lot of accolades were being given to students, their parents and the teachers for improving the students’ grades — and the schools’ grades.
“Liberty is looking like an ‘A’ school and Freedom is looking like it will be a ‘B’ school this year,” she says, “so that parent involvement has really made a big difference.”
She also says that she and Dist. 3 Board member and chair Jessica Vaughn, who also lives in New Tampa, are looking into trying to find teacher-only housing in the New Tampa area, “and of course, paying our teachers a livable wage is still Priority One for me,” she says. “New Tampa is an amazing area and we want our teachers to be able to afford to [live and] remain in this area.”
Karen also is trying to make sure that underutilized schools are filled, “which is why we have to move Pizzo’s students to schools with empty space (including Tampa Palms Elementary), so the ‘Schools of Hope’ don’t come in to claim those spaces. I want our parents to know that I’m a big ‘No’ on giving up any of our space to the Schools of Hope.”
She’s also had Superintendent Ayres looking into adding vocational programs for students who may not be college bound at more than just the two current vocational schools (in Plant City and on Hillsborough Ave.).
And finally, Karen says that as a clinical social worker for children, adolescents and young adults, she has been a champion for helping find ways to improve the mental health of students across the District, “which is a big issue these days that was always swept under the rug before,” she says.
For more info or to donate to her campaign, visit KeepKarenPerez.com. At our press time, Karen’s campaign had raised $37,632, the most of the three Dist. 6 candidates.
Sally Harris Williamson
Meanwhile, candidate Sally Harris Williamson is the only other candidate in the Dist. 6 race who previously served on the School Board.
“Miss Sally,” 75, who won the Dist. 2 runoff election in 2014 (52.53-47.47% over Michelle Popp Shimberg, after finishing a distant second to Shimberg in the Primary Election), served from 2014-18 and as the Board chair from 2018 until her term ended in Jan. 2019.
She lost her Dist. 2 seat to Stacy Hahn in 2018 and was defeated for the at-large Dist. 7 seat by Lynn Gray in a runoff in 2020.
Sally has lived in Hillsborough County since she was in the third grade and graduated from Robinson High. She was a career counselor at Monroe Middle School and then at Tampa Bay Tech before opening the Circle C Ranch Academy preschool in South Tampa. “The ‘C’ stood for ‘Circling Children with Love,” she says. “I had 180 children for 41 years.”
The school, “had a farm environment, right outside the gates of Macdill Air Force Base,” she says. “I had horses, cows, goats, sheep, chickens and pigs. The kids got to go out and collect and cook the eggs. It was for ages one to four.”
She adds that, as time went on, “it became a special needs place, just as Asperger’s and autism seemed to be exploding. When I opened it (in 1982), autism affected one child in 20. But, when I closed it (in 2023), it was one in seven.”
Sally and her husband (the late Bob Harris) ended up adopting a special needs child and she and husband M.C. Williamson have fostered as many as 100 girls in their home over the years.
“But I also got my staff fully trained,” she says. “We had occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech…we serviced the whole child. And the kids got to spend a lot of time outdoors.”
She says she realized that by the time her special needs kids graduated from high school, “they weren’t learning anything. They didn’t have any skills. When the School District received a $100-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (in 2009; primarily used to increase salaries across the District), they took the vocational programs — carpentry, auto mechanics — out of the middle and high schools and put them at just a couple of vocational centers. But, these kids and their families wanted to go to their neighborhood schools, so I ran for School Board in 2014 to try to help.”
But, Sally says, “That was a horrible time to be on the School Board. My first week on the job, I was put in a position that they were firing Superintendent Mary Ellen Elia, and my vote was the swing vote. And I had enough information to know that we were financially in trouble from trying to match that [Gates] grant, because we had to meet that grant 50-50 and the District was in the red. But they were keeping it quiet. There was just so much drama.”
She added, however, that new Superintendent of Schools Jeff Eakins got the half-penny sales tax put on the ballot, “and he said that if it passed, by the end of the ten years, the District would be out of debt, the reserves would go back up to 10% and we would not need to go after the tax again. Well, it’s on the ballot (in Nov.) to extend the tax another 10 years and I can’t wait to get in [office], dig in and find out why. I’m a tough cookie. I can get in there, pay attention and come up with creative ideas of what to do.”
Sally also says that the School District still is not prepared for the numbers of special needs children there are living in the District, “Thank heavens, we have some fabulous charter schools out there that are meeting the needs of these kids.” She adds that in order for public school districts to properly help these special needs students, “they have to have the freedom to isolate the children who can’t mainstream, but the rules will have to change to do that.”
She doesn’t know a lot of information about New Tampa’s schools in particular, not even realizing that our area’s once-overcrowded schools are now losing more and more students to nearby charter and private schools. “I think what really needs to happen, but the District is scared to do it, is redraw all school boundaries by neighborhoods. Then, you wouldn’t have to close any schools.”
For more info or to donate to Sally’s campaign, visit SallyHarris.org. At our press time, her campaign had raised $20,345, the least of the three Dist. 6 candidates.
Kenneth “Ken” Gay
And finally, candidate Dr. Kenneth “Ken” Gay says he is “a fifth-generation Floridian,” whose family originally settled in rural Union-Bradford County and “came down to this general area — along the Palm River.”
Ken, 67, has now been an educator for 39 years, having helped open Lopez Elementary in Seffner in 1984 and ultimately serving as the school’s assistant principal until his retirement in 2022.
“When I got out of school, I subbed a little bit and I always knew that teaching was my niche,” he says. “At first I was going to be a history major, but when I did my substitute teaching, I said, ‘No, I’m going to stick with elementary education.’”
As he was nearing the end of his long teaching career, Ken says, “It was suggested that I go into administration, that’s when I became the assistant principal [at Lopez].”
Once he retired, after working 37 summers filling in for assistant principals across the District, Ken says, “I got picked up by More Health,” a Tampa Bay-area nonprofit which delivers health and safety education to students throughout the District. “I’m still doing that at 70-80 schools throughout the summer.”
He also works for the District’s alternative certification program as a mentor for out-of-field teachers who are working with a five-year temporary teaching certificate. “So, I’ve been doing both of those and, at the same time, serving as a historical docent,” at Tampa’s Cracker Country.
Ken, who holds a Ph.D. degree in Child & Youth Studies from Nova Southeastern University, as well as graduate degrees in Educational Leadership and Elementary Education, says he decided to run for School Board (his first run was in 2024, where he finished a distant second of four candidates to incumbent Henry “Shake” Washington for the Dist. 5 seat) because, “I’ve always had an inkling that we need a better individual, a better voice on the Board. I have a lot of strengths — my doctorate, my child and youth studies — and I think I can bring that to the forefront. I just feel that we’re not going in the right direction with the individual that’s serving in this [Dist. 6] position.”
And, even though he lost in 2024, “I thought I did fairly well for an unknown running against an incumbent (Ken received 24% of the vote). “I have an understanding of the system internally and I can bring that experience to the Board.”
And, although he also didn’t know much about New Tampa’s schools in particular, Ken says that he “talks to teachers across the District all the time and many are concerned about student discipline, not necessarily in the classrooms, but on the bus, in the lunch rooms, etc. We have to be more consistent with those systems. Every building has their own procedures and routines, but are we using them faithfully? I don’t think so.”
Ken says he tells the teachers he works with to, “have high expectations for every child, but have some concrete systems for dealing with behavior and be consistent with it.”
He also says that teachers tell him that they’re “overwhelmed by all of the paperwork and compliance issues. We have to unload some of the burden on our teachers because this District is losing good teachers.”
Ken also says that the reason many good schools, including those in New Tampa, are losing students these days is because, “the charter schools are drawing them out. Parents also are unhappy with some of the politics. But, I trusted the system with my children and my daughter had an IEP (Individualized Education Program for students with disabilities), so I know that route, both as an educator and personally.” He adds that taking these special needs children out of the public school system and putting them into charter schools, “may not necessarily be the right answer either.”
Ken says that if he is elected, his biggest concerns will be, “To make sure that we are being clear with the standards for discipline, building up the morale of our teachers, holding the system accountable and making sure that we look at cost-cutting measures…have a forensic audit…to find out where it makes the most sense to cut costs.”
Among the items he says will help with cost-cutting are “[expanding] the e-bus program and we also need to get with the 21st century and look at digital textbooks. We’re spending $20-$30 million a year on textbooks. And, we need to examine the contracts we have with our vendors, see where we can cut costs there.”
For more info or to donate to Ken’s campaign, visit VoteKennethGay.com. At our press time, Ken’s campaign had raised $30,877.50, second among the three Dist. 6 candidates.
