Pinellas County Schools | |
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Address | |
301 Fourth Street Southwest Largo , Florida , 33770United States | |
District information | |
Type | Public |
Grades | PreK–12 [1] |
NCES District ID | 1201560 [1] |
Students and staff | |
Students | 96,068 (2020–2021) [1] |
Teachers | 6,829.44 (on an FTE basis) [1] |
Staff | 6,858.36 (on an FTE basis) [1] |
Student–teacher ratio | 14.07:1 [1] |
Other information | |
Website | www |
Pinellas County Schools is the public school district serving Pinellas County, Florida. The district is based in Largo. With over 104,000 students served in more than 140 schools and centers, the district is the 7th-largest in Florida and 26th-largest in the nation. [2] It includes the entire county. [3]
The district was created upon Pinellas County's split from Hillsborough County in 1912. Dixie M. Hollins was the county's first superintendent of schools.
Like other school districts in Florida and elsewhere in the United States, Pinellas County has had to deal with issues of desegregation, court-ordered busing, and school choice. In 2000, the district received "unitary" (desegregated) status from the court assigned to monitor integration issues, and from 2003 to 2007 operated a "controlled choice" program which set minimum and maximum percentages of black pupils in individual schools. [4]
In 2007 the "Choice" program was replaced with a "close-to-home' school program, where students go to the school that is nearest to their residence. The Tampa Bay Times was the biggest proponent of resegregation. In multiple editorials in 2007, the Tampa Bay Times, formerly the St. Petersburg Times, urged the school district to abandon integration efforts in favor of "close to home" schools. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
In addition to neighborhood schools, the district offers 70 application programs, including magnet, fundamental and career academy programs. [10] From 2007 and by 2015 student performance and behavior at five elementary schools in a mostly black area of St. Petersburg sharply declined. Hired in 2012, Michael Grego has launched reforms to aid students in the five schools. They include adding extended learning programs, extra summer instruction and bringing in counselors and social workers to connect families with outside services. In 2014, he began pumping more money into the schools, adding classroom aides, mental health counselors and liaisons to connect families with social services [11]
In March 2009, Pinellas County Schools announced that all schools would close one hour early every Wednesday starting with the 2009–10 school year. The district said that this schedule change was to provide teachers with more planning period time. After much controversy, the school district voted in September 2012 to discontinue early release Wednesdays beginning with the 2013–14 school year.
Kevin Hendrick (2022–present)
School board members: [14]
Districts 1–3 are at-large districts, elected by the voters of the entire school district. Districts 4–7 are single-member districts, voted on only by the voters who reside in the member district. The members from single-member districts are also required to reside within the district from which he or she is elected. [15]
The district covers a total of 142 institutions: 76 elementary schools, 22 middle schools, 17 high schools, 6 alternative & exception education schools, 9 adult/vocational schools, 16 centers, and 14 charter schools. With more than 17,000 teachers, administrators and support staff, the district is also Pinellas County's largest employer. Additionally, over 20,000 people serve as volunteers. [16]
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Pinellas County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107, which makes it the seventh-most populous county in the state. It is also the most densely populated county in Florida, with 3,491 residents per square mile. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clearwater is the county seat. St. Petersburg is the largest city in the county, as well as the largest city in Florida that is not a county seat.
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the largest city in the state that is not a county seat. Along with Clearwater, these cities are part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area, the second-largest in Florida with a population of around 2.8 million. St. Petersburg is on the Pinellas peninsula between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, and is connected to mainland Florida to the north.
Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, as well as the fourth largest in the Tampa Bay area. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 82,500, up from 69,371 in 2000.
Pinellas Park is a city located in central Pinellas County, United States. The population was 53,093 at the 2020 census. The city is the fourth largest city in Pinellas County. The city was incorporated in 1914.
St. Pete Beach is a coastal city in Pinellas County, Florida. Known as a tourist destination, St. Pete Beach was formed from the towns of Pass-a-Grille, Belle Vista, St. Petersburg Beach and unincorporated Pinellas County. The population was 9,346 at the 2010 census.
The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 17th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 3,175,275 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
The Tampa Bay Times, called the St. Petersburg Times until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single year for the first time in its history, one of which was for its PolitiFact project. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a nonprofit journalism school directly adjacent to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus.
Pinellas Park High School is a public secondary school in Largo, Florida, United States. It opened in the fall of 1976 and is part of the Pinellas County Schools system. The school mascot is the Patriot, and the school colors are red, white and blue. The school newspaper is called the Powder Horn Press and the yearbook is Occurrences. The school is home to the Criminal Justice Academy magnet program, as well as the First Responders magnet program.
WPDS-LD, virtual and UHF digital channel 14, is a low-power educational independent television station licensed to Largo, Florida, United States. The station is owned by Pinellas County Schools of Pinellas County, Florida.
Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) is a school district that runs the public school system of Hillsborough County in west central Florida and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. It is frequently referred to as the School District of Hillsborough County (SDHC).
Patricia "Pat" Gerard is a Democratic politician. From 2014 to 2022, she was a member of the Pinellas County Commission from the 2nd District. Previously, she served as mayor for the city of Largo, Florida.
The Heralds of Harmony is a Tampa, Florida-based men's a cappella chorus that has been entertaining Florida audiences in the barbershop style continuously since 1945, and is currently ranked among the nation's best male vocal ensembles. The Tampa Bay Heralds of Harmony is a semi-professional chorus affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). The Heralds of Harmony are multiple-time Florida state barbershop chorus champions, and consistently represent the state at the BHS international chorus contest. The Heralds have ranked as high as 6th in the world.
C. Bette Wimbish was one of the leading African-American woman activists in Florida promoting the desegregation of schools and civil equality. She was most commonly known as a civil rights activist, a politician, and the first African American on the St. Petersburg, Florida city council. As well as being the first African-American to hold elected office in the Tampa Bay area in the 20th-century, Wimbish was also the first black female lawyer in Pinellas County, Florida. She was the wife of Ralph Wimbish and the mother of three children.
A special election for Florida's 13th congressional district was held March 11, 2014, to elect a member of the United States House of Representatives, following the death of incumbent Republican Congressman Bill Young on October 18, 2013. Primary elections were held on January 14, 2014. Young, who had already announced that he would not be running for re-election in 2014, was re-elected in 2012 with 57 percent of the vote. With 100% of the precincts reporting, David Jolly was declared the winner.
Hollins High School, formerly known as Dixie M. Hollins High School, is a public secondary school located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school was opened in 1959 as a vocational school for grades 10–12, but it has since expanded to include 9th grade education. The school has just under 1,800 students.
Tonjua Harris Williams is an American academic who became the President of St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, Florida in 2017.
Gus A. Stavros was an American businessman and philanthropist. He founded the company Better Business Forms in the 1960s and later sold it. He founded the Stavros Institute and was a founding chairman of the Pinellas Education Foundation to improve the quality of local public education. He also served on the board of trustees of the University of South Florida and the governing board of USF St. Petersburg. He was also a part-owner of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team.
Pinellas High School was a public high school from 1934 until 1968 in Clearwater, Florida. It served African Americans from the surrounding area of northern Pinellas County including Largo, Clearwater, Dunedin, Safety Harbor and Tarpon Springs during the era of segregation. It was at 1220 Palmetto Street. During its existence, it was the first segregated school in the region and it was the only school exclusively serving Black students in Pinellas County.
Kenneth T. Welch is an American politician serving as mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida. A member of the Democratic Party, Welch served on the county commission of Pinellas County, Florida. Welch is the city's first African-American mayor.