The Pinellas County School Board approved construction funding the week of Oct. 26 to convert Tarpon Springs Middle School into a traditional K-8 campus, Tampa Bay 28 reported. The plan combines Sunset Hills Elementary and Tarpon Springs Middle at the middle school site. Separately, Tarpon Springs Fundamental Elementary is slated to become a Fundamental K-8 school at the Sunset Hills campus, according to the district’s plan.

The district has said it is prioritizing the conversion so the traditional K-8 campus can open in fall 2027, according to Tampa Bay 28.

The conversion is one piece of a broader restructuring. The board voted Oct. 13 to close five schools and restructure others amid declining enrollment, according to Fox 13. The district has said the plan would eliminate nearly 5,000 unused seats and could save about $25 million annually.

Parents say they need answers

Sunset Hills Elementary parents say they still need key details about the transition before deciding where to send their children for the 2027-28 school year.

Melissa Torres, a Sunset Hills parent, said families want guarantees the building will be finished on time. "I think an assurance that one, the plan is going to be done by August. The school will be ready to go. No portables and the building will be retrofitted for lower elementary children, including kindergarten," Torres said, according to Tampa Bay 28.

Christopher Bannon, another parent, said unanswered questions have pushed his family to weigh alternatives. "We even talked about homeschooling because we don't have faith in the system because they haven't placed that. They haven't given us those answers. So we have nothing to go off of, zero to go off of," Bannon said.

The district said it plans to hold a community meeting during the week of Nov. 16 to share construction timelines with families. Tampa Bay 28's report did not include a specific date, time or location for the meeting.

PTA seeks oversight committee

The Pinellas County Council PTA, which represents families across the district, has sent a letter to the school board asking for a committee to review enrollment and attendance. Raegan Miller, vice president of leadership for the countywide PTA, said such a committee could have given families more time to discuss proposed changes.

"I feel like it would really have helped our community. It would have given us some time to have some honest discussions before the superintendent's recommendations were rolled out to the school board," Miller said.

The district said the board received the PTA's letter. Board members will decide what happens next, according to Tampa Bay 28. School board members also said during the week of Oct. 26 that they want to answer parents' questions as the consolidation process moves forward.

More than 60 people spoke during public comment at the Oct. 13 board meeting. The public comment period lasted over two hours, according to Fox 13. Pinellas County averaged about 10,000 births a year in the 1990s, compared with fewer than 7,000 now, according to the district.