OLDSMAR, Fla. — Oldsmar Elementary parents and students heard what a possible K-8 expansion could mean for them at a meeting Monday evening.

That recommendation is just part of what Pinellas County Schools is considering to adjust for a declining student population. If approved by the school board, Oldsmar would add sixth grade next school year, then seventh and eighth in the following two years. 

What You Need To Know

 Pinellas County Schools is considering several recommendations to help the district adjust to declining enrollment

 One of those recommendations is to expand Oldsmar Elementary School to a K-8 model

 A meeting on the plan was held at the school Monday

While some parents say they support the plan because they think it will continue to foster Oldsmar’s close-knit community and due to the distance of Carwise Middle School, others questioned adding adolescents to a school with younger children and what courses and activities would be available to students 
Pinellas County Schools

At a meeting held at the school Monday evening, PCS Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Dull told parents the county’s birth rate and kindergarten enrollment trends have been declining for decades.

Her presentation included data from the Florida Department of Health and Florida Department of Education.

It showed 10,264 children were born in the county in 1990 and kindergarten enrollment in the 1995-96 school year, the year those 1990 babies would’ve enrolled, was 8,346. In 2020, data showed 7,609 babies were born in Pinellas County, and 5,208 kindergarteners enrolled in 2025-26. Dull cited a University of Florida report that found Pinellas County’s school-age population is expected to decrease through 2050, then plateau. 

“As the district and board started looking into this, we were really looking at solving, ‘What can we do for now?’ and to future-proof and look at through 2050,” said Dull.

Dull said with 383 current students, Oldsmar is at 53% utilization. She told meeting attendees that if every current third, fourth, and fifth grader stayed at the expanded K-8 instead of moving onto Carwise Middle School, that would bump up to 97 percent.

“I really support Oldsmar turning into a K-8,” said Alisha Reith.

Reith said she’s not only a former student and employee, but her third grader was once a student there.

“It’s such a family environment, and for the people who get nervous about going to middle school, the family environment really helps. It really keeps the kids comfortable,” said Reith.

“We like the proximity,” said Emily Fuchs, whose child is in fourth grade at Oldsmar. “It’s a five minute drive from the house. We’re zoned for Carwise, and it’s just – it’s far.”

Fuchs told Spectrum News that without traffic, the middle school is a 20 minute drive from her home.

Matin Norozzy has a daughter in kindergarten at Oldsmar. He said the presentation left him with questions.

“It seems like the county’s plan is not very clear,” he said. “As we heard tonight, a lot of their fundamental aspects of this school are still in the ‘We’ll figure it out when we get there’ stage – who the teachers are going to be, what the courses will be, what the potential electives will be. We still don’t have any of those answers.”

He was also among those who brought up concerns about adding adolescents to a school with younger students.

“Oldsmar is not an outlier that needs to be fixed. So, why Oldsmar? Why make my kindergartener go to school with sixth graders when she’s in first grade?” asked Norozzy.

Dull said older and younger students will be separated.

“What a kindergarten space looks like or a pre-K space looks like has very different needs than what a middle school space looks like. That doesn’t mean that the climate and the culture of a campus isn’t supportive throughout,” said Dull.

As for questions about courses and activities, Dull told parents during the meeting that’s going to depend on student interest. She said the district would survey parents and students to find out what they’d like to see at the school, but there may be fewer options than at an established middle school because there will be a smaller number of students.

Dull also said if the expansion is approved by the school board, students who live in the Oldsmar Elementary zone can choose to stay at the school or move on to Carwise. They’ll also still be able to apply to other schools through the choice/district application program process.

The school board is expected to vote on this and other possible changes at its meeting on February 24.