Pinellas County School Board members will vote tonight on a plan to close four schools and reshape several others, a decision that will affect more than 1,000 students and their families.
Superintendent Kevin Hendrick has warned since last school year that tight budgets and shrinking enrollment would require more closures. The board now has to decide whether to act on that warning, and parents will soon find out which schools won’t reopen next fall.
What’s on the table
- Closing Kings Highway Elementary, Blanton Elementary, Bear Creek Elementary, and Lealman Innovation Academy
- Converting Pinellas Park Elementary from a traditional neighborhood school to a fundamental K-8 school
- Relocating Azalea Middle and converting Azalea Elementary to a K-8 school
- Merging Sunset Hills Elementary with Tarpon Springs Middle and expanding Tarpon Springs Fundamental
Families feel the cost
For some parents, the numbers are personal. Shauntel Smith, a Tarpon Springs mother, said her daughter has made real gains in her school’s special needs program. She said she understands that finances matter and respects the district’s position, but called the coming changes unfortunate for the community.
Some board members have toured the affected neighborhoods before voting. Board member Caprice Edmond said the goal is to absorb the impact of today’s decisions and weigh how they will play out over time.
Parents have also pressed district leaders to plan for the school system five or 10 years from now. Hendrick acknowledged the concern but said enrollment, funding, and state law are hard to forecast, and that the district has to make the best decisions it can with what it knows today.
Parent pushback already changed the plan
The list is shorter than the one Hendrick presented last month. Parents objected to John M. Sexton Elementary’s closure, citing enrollment and other concerns. The district is reviewing that proposal again and will discuss it later this month.
A separate proposal to convert Boca Ciega High School into a technical school is not part of tonight’s vote. District officials say that change is planned for the 2028-2029 school year.
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