Following hours of debate and discussion, the Pinellas County School Board voted Tuesday to close six schools and either relocate or merge several others.
The elementary schools slated for closure are Tarpon Springs Fundamental, Azalea, Blanton, Kings Highway and Bear Creek. Lealman Innovation Academy, a middle school in the South County, will close as well.
The plan to close Sexton Elementary is being reconsidered after community feedback. An online petition to keep the elementary school open received more than 1,200 signatures.
Tuesday's board meeting drew more than three hours of public comment from more than 60 community members, with most urging the board to postpone a decision to relocate Sunset Hills Elementary to Tarpon Middle, which would form a K-8 school.
Sunset Hills was not included in the county's original proposal. The decision to relocate was added about a week ago after community members voiced concerns about losing Tarpon Middle, the area's only zoned traditional neighborhood middle school.
The original plan was to close and relocate Tarpon Springs Fundamental to Tarpon Middle to create a K-8 fundamental.
Fundamental schools are choice schools open to students outside of its zoned area and emphasize a structured environment and family engagement.
Instead, in the updated proposal, Tarpon Springs Fundamental would close and relocate to the vacated Sunset Hills campus to form an expanded K-8 fundamental.
Tarpon Springs Fundamental holds less than 300 students, though the high-performing school sees long wait lists for some grades. District leaders said the move would expand the number of seats at the competitive school by about 200.
But parents of Sunset Hills students criticized the district for not giving families enough time to provide their input, and for prioritizing the needs of the fundamental school over their traditional elementary school.
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Robin Matos, a mother of two, asked the board to delay a vote and consider alternatives.
"This proposal has struck at the heart of our community. We've had only days to process a decision that could uproot our children, affect dedicated employees, and disrupt a community built over generations," said Matos.
However, a motion from board member Lisa Cane to postpone the vote did not succeed. The board voted 6-1 to move forward with the closures, with Cane objecting.
As with any decision to merge elementary and middle schools together, parents were concerned about the social impacts on younger children.
Eileen Gomez, a parent of a son with special needs at Sunset Hills, spoke about the possible disruption her child would experience.
"Families deserve a clear answer about safety, staffing, spaces for younger children, and continued special education support before our children are moved," said Gomez.
Superintendent Kevin Hendrick said closures are necessary as 45 county public schools sit below 60% capacity. Forty-one elementary schools have an enrollment below 300.
Schools below the 60% threshold are at risk of being taken over by Schools of Hope — for-profit charter schools which can request space inside the underenrolled schools.
Hendrick said the closures and re consolidations could save $25 million a year, while reducing unused student seats by nearly 5,000.
During Tuesday's board discussion, member Eileen Long said the district has been studying this reconfiguration for two years.
"It would be easy to make new suggestions, ask for more time, and find reasons why something could not work," said Long. "Any delays would hurt our employees and the children we serve because the financial problems would become much worse."
Hendrick said at a previous meeting that economic research shows Pinellas County School enrollment will eventually level off at 60,000 students.
There are currently about 85,800 students in the district.
