Dozens of parents — the vast majority of them from Tarpon Springs — urged the Pinellas County school board Tuesday to consider alternatives to superintendent Kevin Hendrick’s recently released school closure plans.
“We’re not just saying ‘Don’t touch our schools,’” Megan Delgado, a member of the Tarpon Springs Fundamental Elementary PTA leadership, told board members. “We can build something together.”
She and several others from the north Pinellas community offered a counterproposal to the district’s recommendation of closing Tarpon Springs Fundamental and Tarpon Springs Middle, merging them into a K-8 fundamental campus.
Joining them were a smaller but equally passionate contingent of parents from Sexton Elementary in St. Petersburg, who called for a different solution to consolidating under-enrolled schools in their area, rather than shutting down theirs.
They left the meeting with the sense they might have accomplished something.
“I think they actually heard us this time,” said Jacquelyn Hussey, Sexton PTA president.
“I think that they’re listening. You could tell,” said Erin Smith, a PTA leader at Tarpon Springs Fundamental. “That means the world.”
Smith noted that board members took notes and sometimes nodded as they heard speakers deliver a unified message. She also took heart in the remarks that some officials made before hearing public comments at the end of Tuesday’s meeting.
Hendrick said that the district’s demographic and financial realities made him stick to his “strong recommendation” that closures and consolidations must happen. The district has 41 elementary schools under 300 students, and 45 schools below 60% capacity, he said, calling such numbers unsustainable.
But he added that during community sessions held over the past several days, residents brought forth “excellent suggestions,” some of which could be incorporated into the plan.
Board chairperson Caprice Edmond said after visiting the potentially affected schools and talking with stakeholders, she wanted much more information, particularly about Sexton and the Tarpon Springs campuses. That’s where the biggest pushback has emerged.
Edmond requested an analysis of the impact of closing Woodlawn Elementary and merging it into Sexton. She also asked for details about the feasibility of relocating and expanding Tarpon Springs Fundamental to nearby Tarpon Springs Elementary.
Both ideas, along with some others, came from parents in the two communities.
“We need to have a discussion regarding what the people are asking for,” she told her colleagues.
Board members said they looked forward to a full conversation about each aspect of Hendrick’s recommendations when they hold a workshop on Oct. 6.
“We do all have a lot of questions that need to be answered,” board member Katie Blaxberg said.
To be sure families get the most up-to-date information, Hendrick said he would postpone a second round of town hall meetings, which had been scheduled for next week, until after the workshop. That way, any changes come about can be incorporated.
The board is set to vote on the final plan on Oct. 13.
The Tampa Bay Times Education Hub reports on Florida’s schools and universities and the students they serve. You can contribute to the hub through our journalism fund by clicking here.
