If no public schools on the Treasure Coast close as a result of state funding that is expected to shrink by 10 percent for 2009-10, the three-county area may be an anomaly in public education.

“Just about every school district in Florida is looking at consolidating and closing some schools,” said Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association. “I don’t think there’s a school district in the state of Florida that’s going to have as many schools open next year as this year — except maybe some very small ones.”

Officials in Martin and Indian River County school districts say they are not now considering closing and consolidating public schools to reduce spending next year, while St. Lucie County school leaders will only say that every idea to save money is being discussed.

“Every district that’s not in a growth phase right now is looking at (school consolidation),” said Karen Disney-Brombach, president of the Greater Florida Consortium of School Boards and vice chair of the Indian River County School Board. “Other school districts are doing it.”

Last year, Volusia County closed four elementary schools; Orange County school officials have discussed closing eight; Pinellas County educators plan to close six; and Escambia County plans to close a kindergarten-through eighth-grade school.

Closing schools is a very volatile topic, Blanton added.

“Nobody wants the school close to their neighborhood closed,” he said.

Enrollment in Florida public schools has declined. Blanton said the most recent student head count found 17,600 fewer students enrolled statewide this year than last.

Indian River County School Board Chairwoman Carol Johnson said neither she nor the School Board have discussed closing schools next year.

“As of now, it’s not a consideration,” Johnson said. “We are going to be looking at all kinds of things before we impact schools and classrooms.”

Those may include changes to bus transportation and consolidating after-school activities including band and athletics, she said.

“We have booster clubs and band organizations and they give wonderful support,” Johnson said. “We may need to ask them for more support.”

Martin County also is looking for any other way to balance its school budget.

“There’s been no discussion related to consolidating any of the schools in Martin County,” said Schools Superintendent Nancy Kline.

St. Lucie County is the largest school district on the Treasure Coast with 37 schools and 39,000 students. School Board member Kathryn Hensley said she attended a statewide meeting of educators in Tampa last December during which school consolidation was widely discussed.

Hensley said she asked Schools Superintendent Michael Lannon to look into the districtwide effects of closing some schools, but that she hadn’t talked with anybody about which schools could be closed and consolidated.

“No schools are being targeted,” Hensley said.

– James Kirley

Tags: Indian River County, money, treasure coast

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 25th, 2009 at 10:18 am and is filed under Indian River County, Martin County, Schools, St. Lucie County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.