Summary:
This analysis examines five elementary schools in the 33584 zip code of Seffner, Florida, serving grades PK through 5 and all part of the Hillsborough school district, revealing a community facing significant challenges with high poverty and chronic absenteeism.
Lopez Elementary School stands out as the highest-performing school in the area, consistently achieving the top state ranking (32nd percentile) and the highest test scores, particularly in 3rd-grade ELA (54%) and Math (59%). In contrast, Mango Elementary School ranks lowest at the 6th percentile. McDonald Elementary School shows the most impressive improvement, jumping from the 24th to the 34th percentile over two years despite having the highest poverty rate (73.95%) and chronic absenteeism (49.1%). Colson Elementary School excels in resource allocation with the highest per-student spending ($14,231) and the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (30.6%), which is below both district and state averages. Seffner Elementary School presents a paradox with the lowest poverty rate (55.61%) but the highest student-teacher ratio (20.2:1) and low academic performance (11th percentile).
Key metrics reveal systemic issues: the average chronic absenteeism rate across these schools is 39.7%, far exceeding the state average of 31.4%, and the average free/reduced lunch eligibility is 65.0%. A consistent weakness appears in 5th-grade Math and Science, where average proficiency rates (41.6% and 41.4% respectively) lag significantly behind district and state averages. While Colson Elementary demonstrates that higher spending can correlate with better attendance, Lopez Elementary proves that effective resource use can drive academic success even with high absenteeism, highlighting that school leadership and targeted interventions are critical factors in this area.
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