ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The final community meeting regarding the future of Pinellas County schools amid declining enrollment is set for Tuesday night.
The fifth and final “Planning for Progress” meeting put on by the district will be held at Lakewood High School from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
All parents are invited to attend. At the meeting, district staff will share enrollment updates and the options the district is considering moving forward. Following the briefing, parents will be asked to provide input.
At last week’s “Planning for Progress” meeting that was held at Hollins High School, staff stated the district has 3,600 fewer students enrolled this year compared to the start of last school year. That includes a 9% drop in kindergarten enrollment.
Reasons for declining enrollment include more families moving out of Pinellas County due to high cost of living and an overall decline in the birthrate for school-aged kids.
At a school board workshop earlier this year, Superintendent Kevin Hendrick said the district is looking at building capacity, current utilization and improvements a school building might need as they assess the next best steps. Hendrick said changes will likely include school closures and consolidations.
That’s something that worries parent Megan Diehl.
“If a school is shuttered when a child is in the middle of their school experience, there’s going to be a huge impact for their social experience as well as their educational experience,” she said. “The trust they’ve built up with the administrators and the staff in that building. That does concern me.”
Diehl was happy to hear the district was open to parent input before making any major decisions. She said while making some schools K-8 is not a primary concern of hers, she’s hoping the district looks at the schools with the best enrollment and parent involvement as models for the future.
“One thing I think would be really important is to look at the schools that feel they have good engagement and family input and see what makes them successful. How did they get those families engaged?” she explained.
Yes, it’s where people love to vacation… but school enrollment in Pinellas County has dropped over 3,600 students this year compared to last.
Now @my_pcs says future plans could include closing schools. Parent meeting tonight at 5:30 p.m. at Lakewood High @BN9 pic.twitter.com/xzhM3PbPCe
— Angie Angers (@angie_angers) December 9, 2025
Parent Karolina Quearry also provided feedback at last week’s meeting. She said she’s also open to the idea of making some schools K-8.
“I think I’m open-minded as to whatever happens in the future. I understand the need for change,” she said.
After Tuesday’s final community meeting wraps, the district says they will use parent input as they make final recommendations on what should happen next. Those recommendations will be presented to the school board in January.
Pinellas County currently has 116 schools, not including charter schools.
Photojournalist Eugene Buenaventura contributed to this report.