ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sexton Elementary will no longer be part of next week’s Pinellas County School Board vote on school closures, giving parents who fought to keep the school open at least a temporary victory.
Superintendent Kevin Hendrick said the district will go back and look at other options for schools in the Lealman area and north of downtown St. Pete after School Board members expressed mixed opinions about the original proposal.
For Sexton parents, it is a sigh of relief.
“I’m hopeful, a glimmer of hope, because other board members asked the same questions we all have,” parent Sarah Henley said. “We want to know why ours, we want to know a bigger plan.”
School board members are asking for an analysis to be done should Sexton Elementary School be rezoned entirely to Lynch Elementary, and also if Woodlawn Elementary closed and Sexton remain open.
Parents had rallied around the school in recent weeks, circulating a petition and urging district leaders to reconsider closing the campus. They questioned why Sexton was on the list when the school has a higher utilization rate than many nearby campuses and recently received about $900,000 in improvements. The YMCA had also expressed interest in taking over the Sexton property, which was one factor in the district’s original proposal.
“I knew there wasn’t consensus and I wanted the board to have a conversation about it, which they did, and as you can see is there’s pretty strong feelings both ways. So let’s go back and take a look at it again and see if there’s a solution in those neighborhoods that maybe gets greater consensus.” Hendrick said.
The School Board is still expected to vote next Tuesday on closing six schools, rather than the seven included in the original plan, along with proposals to repurpose other campuses.
Hendrick said the board will return to the conversation about Sexton later this month.