Hillsborough County Public Schools is offering every PreK through eighth-grade student a free field trip this school year.

The district is spending $1.9 million from its voter-approved millage referendum to cover admission and transportation for about 135,000 students, according to a millage information page on the Lutz K-8 School website. Families will pay nothing.

Field trips in the district were previously limited to fifth, sixth and eighth graders. The new program opens them to kindergarten through eighth grade, plus PreK.

Superintendent Van Ayres previewed the expansion in an Aug. 4 interview with Tampa Bay 28. "Instead of just 5th, 6th and 8th grade with field trips, now it's kindergarten through 8th grade, everybody will get an experience outside of these classroom walls …" Ayres said, adding that students will get into the community and experience things they may not have experienced before.

The district, which operates 233 schools and employs 23,000 people, posted the announcement on its official X account on Friday, Sept. 18. Each trip will be tied to classroom curriculum, though the district has not named specific destinations.

Field trips are one slice of a larger package funded by the millage referendum Hillsborough County voters approved in November 2024. The levy generates roughly $177 million a year, with a portion going to charter schools as required by state law.

Ninety-two percent of the millage investment goes to teacher and staff pay, including annual raises of $3,000 or $6,000 depending on position. Other programs include free full-day voluntary PreK for nearly 2,000 students, financial literacy classes for every elementary student, college and career counselors at all 29 high schools and a five-year, $37 million upgrade of physical education equipment across 212 school sites.

For Lutz and Odessa families, the field trip program applies to students at any Hillsborough County public school serving PreK through eighth grade. The district has not announced a schedule for when trips will take place or released a list of destinations.

Families can track updates on millage-funded programs at the Hillsborough County Public Schools millage page.