12 School Districts May Be Redrawn

School board members will decide next month whether to move forward with a rezoning plan that could affect 2,100 students at 27 elementary schools.

In St. Pete, they include:

• Sawgrass Lake
• Lynch
• Shore Acres
• Sexton
• Westgate
• Northwest
• North Shore
• Woodlawn
• Melrose
• Campbell Park
• Lakewood
• Maximo

A vote at Tuesday's Pinellas County School Board meeting was the first of two needed to approve the plan, which would take effect during the 2012-13 school year. School officials say rezoning is needed to relieve crowding at some schools, while taking advantage of room at others.

In St. Petersburg, that would mean changing the boundaries of:

• Lynch Elementary: Students who live south of 54th Avenue North and north of 46th Avenue North between 16th Street North and 4th Street North would go to Sexton Elementary. Those students currently attend Lynch Elementary.
• Shore Acres Elementary: Students who live south of 54th Place North and north of 38th Avenue North between 4th Street North and Placido Bayou would go to North Shore Elementary. Those students currently attend Shore Acres.
• John M. Sexton Elementary Students who live south of 30th Avenue North and north of 22nd Avenue North between I-275 and 4th Street North would go to Woodlawn. Students around Crescent Lake Park south of 22nd Avenue North and north of 9th Avenue North between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street North and 4th Street North would also go to Woodlawn. Those students currently attend Sexton.
• North Shore Elementary Students who live south of Central Avenue and north of 18th Avenue South between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South and Tampa Bay (around the Albert Whitted Airport) would go to Campbell Park next year. Those students currently attend North Shore.
• Maximo Elementary Students who live live south of 18th Avenue South and north of 22nd Avenue South between 20th Street South and 22nd Street South would go to Melrose. Those students currently attend Maximo.
• Campbell Park Students who live south of 9th Avenue South and north of 22nd Avenue South between and 16th Street South would go to Melrose. Those students currently attend Campbell Park.
• Lakewood Elementary Students who live south of 22nd Avenue South and north of Lake Maggiore between 22nd Street South and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South would go to Campbell Park. Students in an area bounded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South, 18th Avenue SE, Tampa Bay and 22nd Avenue South would also go to Campbell Park. Those students currently attend Lakewood Elementary.
• Saw Grass Lake Elementary Students who live in the area just south of Saw Grass Lake Park and north of 62nd Avenue North and just west of I-275 would go to Lynch Elementary. Those students currently attend Saw Grass.
• Westgate Elementary Students who live in the area bounded by Tyrone Boulevard, 22nd Avenue North and 58th Street North would go to Northwest. Those students currently attend Westgate.

Crowding Affects Quality of Education, District Says

School officials say crowding is having a negative effect on teachers, students and parents alike.

All of the elementary schools being recommend for rezoning have had to add portable classrooms to accommodate students, according to an overcrowding report on the district website [PDF]. That hurts teachers' ability to work as teams and has resulted in instructional time being cut to accommodate student movement from building to building. In some of the schools, libraries, basketball courts, hallways and closets have been turned into instructional space.

The crowding isn't limited to school hours, either. Drop-off and pickup areas are strained beyond capacity before and after school, which means parents and buses are stuck in long lines waiting to drop off and pick up students.

The crowding also negatively affects lunch times, prekindergarten programs, customer service and student access to computers and other equipment, the report says.

"The schools that are overcrowded have given up libraries, they've given up computer rooms, they have not had an effective and efficient way of working, so our capacity and class size amendment is an issue," school board member Linda Lerner said in Tuesday's meeting.

"I think we have to make it real clear to our community, we want stability, and that's what we hope that passing this recommendation will give to the schools, but never buy your house based on what schools are zoned for now," Lerner said.

The school board is scheduled to take a final vote on the rezoning plan at its Dec. 6 meeting.