Original Research by School Decision on Durant High School
Durant High School is a large public high school in Plant City, a growing agricultural town in eastern Hillsborough County along the I-4 corridor between Tampa and Lakeland. The school serves grades nine through twelve and draws a student body that is broadly mixed by race and ethnicity, with white and Hispanic students each making up a substantial share of enrollment, and Black and Asian students present in smaller but meaningful numbers. A notable portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in territory typical of many Florida suburban and semi-rural high schools rather than the more affluent end of the county's spectrum.
State assessment results and a four-year graduation rate were not available in the data provided. That is a genuine gap, not a grade-band or school-type issue, since Durant serves all four high school years. A parent wanting to understand academic outcomes should ask the school or Hillsborough district directly for Florida's accountability results and graduation data. The comparison metrics relative to districts in Hillsborough County could not be calculated for the same reason. Chronic absenteeism data was also absent.
Program information was not included in the data, so we cannot speak to AP course offerings, dual enrollment, career and technical pathways, or extracurriculars from this source. Those are worth asking the school about directly, particularly for families comparing college-prep depth across Hillsborough County high schools.
Plant City itself gives some useful context for understanding who attends and what surrounds the school. Publicly reported information describes it as a town with genuine agricultural identity: it calls itself the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, and its largest employers include South Florida Baptist Hospital, major produce and wholesale operations, and logistics and distribution centers. Tesla and Sysco both operate distribution facilities there, and an agricultural-robotics firm is headquartered in town. Transportation, farming, and production work make up the economic backbone, which shapes the community context students come from. The school sits on a campus south of the historic town center, which has its own walkable downtown with monthly food truck events and farmers markets, a historic district of early-1900s homes, and a linear park running through the core.
The housing market in the zip code has values modestly above the Florida state median and a bit above the national median, though they have edged slightly downward over the past year. New construction is being delivered at scale, with multiple builders active and plans for continued population growth well above current levels. That growth trajectory means the school's enrollment and peer composition could shift in coming years. Hillsborough County also underwent a significant district-wide boundary rezoning for the 2024-2025 school year, reassigning a large number of students to different schools, so families should confirm current attendance zone boundaries rather than assuming prior assignments still hold.
One district-level change that directly affects homeowners in Plant City is a one-mill property tax levy approved by Hillsborough County voters in late 2024, publicly reported to run from mid-2025 through mid-2029. The levy raises teacher and support staff pay and adds a tangible annual cost for property owners.
Data on IEP or special education services and English learner enrollment were not reported, leaving a gap for families whose children need those supports. Anyone weighing Durant specifically for a student with an IEP or who is learning English should ask the school about caseload capacity, staffing, and program design.
What the available picture gives you is a large, demographically mixed high school in a community that is growing quickly and retains a distinct agricultural and small-city character. The academic performance picture requires a direct conversation with the school or a look at Florida's state accountability dashboard, since the data here does not yet support a characterization of how students are performing.
See more original research from School Decision →