Pinellas school closings have parents freaking
January 14, 2009 at 11:33 am by Wayne GarciaThis is just the start of some of the disruption and carnage from the state’s budget crisis and economic nosedive: the Pinellas County School Board has voted to close eight schools to save money, and to take a number of studnets off the bus.
The schools to be closed are:
Clearview Elementary
Coachman Fundamental (consolidate with Kennedy)
Gulf Beaches Elementary
Kings Highway Elementary
North Ward Elementary
Palm Harbor Elementary
Rio Vista Elementary
Southside Fundamental (consolidate with Mad. Beach)
(Download the school board’s presentation from Tuesday’s meeting here.
The biggest problem for affected parents: the new maps for where those displaced students will go won’t be published until February. The St. Petersburg Times wrote:
The uncertainty had many parents urging the district to provide more stability in the future. But officials said there were no guarantees in an era when tight budgets and declining enrollment will continue to pressure the district to make adjustments.
“I don’t think you have all the answers yet,” Laurie Clark, a parent at Palm Harbor Elementary, told the board.
“Where will my child go to school? ‘Somewhere’ isn’t an appropriate answer.”
