Today, the St. Petersburg Times ran a front page story about the planned closing of five elementary schools due to the recent budget cuts in Florida as well as the United States.The five schools that may be closed are Gulf Beaches Elementary in St. Pete Beach, Kings Highway Elementary in Clearwater, North Ward Elementary in Clearwater, Palm Harbor Elementary in Palm Harbor and Rio Vista Elementary in St. Petersburg.
This is not a sudden occurrence, however. Last year, Pinelles County managed to spare three of these schools from the chopping block: Gulf Beaches Elementary, North Ward Elementary and Rio Vista Elementary. Now they are at risk again, and the Pinelles County School Board is forced to make a decision as to whether the schools will remain open.
These proposed closings are the results of budget cuts as well as the decline in the amount of students in the Pinelles school system. During the 2005-2006 school year, the population of students from kindergarten to the 12th grade was 111,483.
It is expected to drop to roughly 98,000 students in the 2011-2012 school year, administrators told The Suncoast News.
Last week Pinelles found out that revenue needed to cover this year's spending will be cut, not by the planned $13.8 million, but by at least $21 million. In addition, $40-million will have to be cut next year.
An elementary school in St. Petersburg, Clearview Avenue Elementary, has already been closed, and students will be forced to find another school to attend. The same may happen to these five other schools, which will make other schools still staying open suffer.
The district released a list of seven schools that could receive "program enhancements" or "expansions" next year if the board closes the schools.Jim Madden, an assistant superintendent, told the St. Petersburg Times that the school board will, if the five schools are closed, create more seats at Coachman and Southside fundamental middle schools and at Curtis Fundamental Elementary, establish gifted programs at three middle schools and turn Madeira Beach Elementary and Madeira Beach Middle into one school with grades kindergarten through eight.
More students at fewer schools will increase class sizes. Large classes have never been conducive to better learning. Education has been put below other issues for a long time, but when schools are suffering while corporations are fighting for buy-outs and getting bailed out of the current economic crisis by the government, Florida's priorities seem a bit scewed.
Although the proposed closures of the five schools would save about $4.2 million, some school board members and certainly parents of the schools' students are upset.
School Board member Carol Cook told the St. Petersburg Times that she would be fine with school closings if they served an educational purpose, but making cuts like these because cuts they have to make cuts is frustrating.
