Pinellas County Schools is asking families to help decide which schools stay open, as district leaders weigh a new round of closures driven by years of declining enrollment.
The district hosted three community meetings Wednesday, including one at Pinellas Park High School, where Superintendent Kevin Hendrick said officials are studying what works best for individual neighborhoods before issuing new recommendations this fall.
At the Pinellas Park session, attendees responded to posted questions on topics such as whether they would support a new K-8 school in their area if it meant closing a traditional neighborhood school.
Hendrick pointed to state data showing annual births in Pinellas County have fallen sharply, from more than 10,000 in 1990 to just over 7,000 in 2021, according to Florida Department of Health figures. He said district funding has not kept pace with inflation, complicating efforts to sustain programs while staying fiscally responsible.
Asked whether more school closures are coming, Hendrick declined to give a number.
“There isn’t a set number,” he said. “We’re not in a spot yet where we’re saying, ‘This is exactly what we have to do.’ There’s a lot of factors at play.”
He said the district is weighing each facility’s age, upkeep costs, location, and the academic programs it offers, with the goal of keeping options available in every neighborhood.
Nani Wells, a district parent and teacher, said she pushed for more fundamental or magnet schools in the middle part of the county, an area she said is currently underserved. She said she offered to have her own school considered for that designation.
The district closed two schools this past year, Cross Bayou Elementary and Disston Academy, rezoning those students to Bardmoor Elementary and Pinellas Central Elementary. Hendrick said the district does not intend to move those students again and that they’ll be able to finish elementary school at their new campuses.
Asked how the next round of recommendations might compare to the last, Hendrick said that depends on the feedback the district collects. He noted the scale of the challenge: with roughly 45,000 open seats districtwide, the district could close many schools, but has no interest in doing so.
“We want to do what makes sense in a community,” he said.
Residents who missed Wednesday’s meetings can still submit feedback online. The district plans to present its next round of recommendations this fall.
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