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] In addition to neighborhood schools, the district offers 70 application programs, including magnet, fundamental and career academy programs. [3] It includes the entire county. [4]
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. [5]
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. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
From 2007 and by 2015 student performance and behavior at five elementary schools in a mostly black area of St. Petersburg sharply declined.
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.
School board members: [13]
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. [14]
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. [15]
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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, making 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.
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 82,485, up from 77,648 in 2010.
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 of Pinellas Park was incorporated in 1914. It is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area, most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area.
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.
Times Publishing Company is a newspaper and magazine publisher. Its flagship publication is the Tampa Bay Times, a daily newspaper serving the Tampa Bay area. It also publishes the business magazine Florida Trend and the daily newspaper tbt*.
Seminole High School is a public coeducational high school located in Seminole, Florida. It is governed by the Pinellas County Schools. The school's mascot is "Wally the Warhawk". The student population is approximately 1,650.
This is a timeline of history of the city of Largo, Florida, United States.
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, United States. It is frequently referred to as the School District of Hillsborough County (SDHC).
St. Petersburg High School, founded in 1898, is a secondary school in the Pinellas County School District in St. Petersburg, Florida. The school's current building, a historic landmark, was built in 1926. It was designed by Missouri architect William B. Ittner. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The school was billed as the nation's first million dollar high school. The school previously occupied several other historic locations around St. Petersburg, including a location at Mirror Lake (1919–1926).
Florida's 13th congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress on Florida's Gulf Coast, assigned to Pinellas County. The district includes Largo, Clearwater, and Palm Harbor. In the 2020 redistricting cycle, most of St. Petersburg facing Tampa Bay was redistricted into the 14th district, while the rest of Pinellas County formerly in the 12th district became included in the 13th district.
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is a government agency that provides public transportation for Pinellas County, Florida. The authority manages a fixed-route bus system that encompasses over 40 bus routes - including two express routes to Tampa; the Central Avenue Trolley; the Suncoast Beach Trolley; and the bus rapid transit service, the SunRunner.
Gibbs High School is a public high school of the Pinellas County School District in St. Petersburg, Florida. Gibbs is home to the Pinellas County Center for the Arts (PCCA), Business, Economics, and Technology Academy (BETA) and their television production in Communication Arts. The school is named for Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, a black man who was Superintendent of Public Instruction and Secretary of State in Florida during the Reconstruction era. Gibbs' current principal is Barry Brown.
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.
East Lake High School is a public high school serving students from grades 9–12 located in Tarpon Springs, Florida, and is part of the Pinellas County Schools. It has a 99% graduation rate which ranks it among the most graduating schools in the state of Florida.
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.
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.