It’s official: Fox Hollow Elementary in Port Richey will close at the end of the school year, with its students reassigned to one of three other nearby campuses.
Pasco County school board members on Tuesday approved the closure as part of an effort to use space more efficiently amid declining enrollment. Districts across the state and nation face similar challenges as families have more choices for where to send their children.
“This is not simply about consolidating schools,” said Colleen Beaudoin, board chairperson. “It’s about redesigning the educational experience for these students.”
Board member Jessica Wright opposed the plan, saying it left too many unanswered questions on key issues such as where Fox Hollow children will attend next fall and how they will get there.
“Even if one student faces a transportation barrier, that is one too many,” Wright said, noting 80% of the school’s students walk to and from classes.
She tried to separate the Fox Hollow closure, which she did not back, from the renaming of Gulf Highlands Elementary and the relocation of West Pasco Education Academy. No one supported that motion, leading to her “no” vote.
Wright’s points echoed concerns made by a handful of Fox Hollow staff members and parents who urged the board to reject its proposal. Those people left the room in tears after the 4-1 vote.
“I knew it was going to happen,” said parent Samantha Vrbancic, who praised Wright for standing up for the school. “Nobody cares about the kids. That’s how I feel.”
She and others lamented the board’s early morning decision on Election Day, when few people could attend and offer further input. Board members, they said, should have anticipated they wouldn’t get much community feedback on Tuesday, given the meeting time and the fact that the concept came out publicly just weeks ago.
“People just found out,” said Susan Pigeon, who has substitute taught at Fox Hollow. “They’re still absorbing the information.”
Superintendent John Legg offered the proposal two weeks ago, explaining he wanted to tie enrollment control efforts to the district’s focus on improved academic offerings.
He suggested the best place to focus first would be on the 34668 ZIP code, which has three low-performing elementary schools that serve poorer students and families. Each of the schools — Fox Hollow, Gulf Highlands and Schrader — have seen their populations shrink annually, falling at or below two-thirds capacity.
Closing one of them could bolster numbers at those that remain, which would get refreshed curriculum offerings.
Schrader would become a science, technology, engineering, arts and math center more closely aligned to neighboring Bayonet Point Middle. Gulf Highlands would take on a career exploration theme to go with its core courses, getting the new name Highlands Exploratory Academy.
Chasco K-8, where several Fox Hollow students already attend for middle grades, also would change its boundaries so those children could go there for all nine grade levels.
Board members stressed during their discussion that closing a school is no easy decision. But they reiterated the importance of needing to make changes that look at the district as a whole, putting as much money as possible into children’s education rather than into half-used buildings.
The planned changes to Schrader and Gulf Highlands contributed to their support of the superintendent’s proposal.
“Approving a plan is only the beginning. We have to deliver on what we are promising,” said board member Megan Harding, who previously taught at Fox Hollow and lives in the neighborhood. Her yes vote was “for what i believe can be a brighter future for the children in this community.”
Pasco’s enrollment has shrunk in the past two years by nearly 4,000, despite continued housing growth. Much of the shift owes to expansions in charter school and voucher participation.
Officials have also attributed some of the change to birth rates, noting more seniors are graduating high school each year than kindergartners are entering district schools. The Florida Department of Health shows that Pasco’s birth rate per 1,000 residents declined from 2015 to 2023, when it began to rise.
In 2025, the count had 6,545 live births, according to the state data, compared to 5,105 a decade earlier.
If the current trends continue, officials anticipate shutting down more schools in future years.
With the plan approved, the district expects to introduce new school zones for review in January, with a final vote likely to occur in March.
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