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Suncoast Pinellas News

A Worthy Farewell

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 17, 2009

The increasingly straitened financial situation of the Pinellas County School District has been a matter of public record for months. After decades of growth, the district's student enrollment has been dropping. The fewer students a district has the less money it gets from the state. This problem is compounded by the state's well-publicized economic woes, which had the Legislature this week making spending cuts that include less money for public education, although Gov. Charlie Crist has threatened to veto the education cuts.

In response, to the Pinellas public schools' money problems, district administrators put together a list of spending cuts. That list included closing five elementary schools and two middle schools. That Palm Harbor Elementary School was on the closure list had been known for some time. Still, when the ax fell at Tuesday's School Board meeting, the decision to close the 82-year-old school stung many in the Palm Harbor area.

Palm Harbor Elementary School PTA President Debi Fiegle says she and others are "resigned" to the fact the School Board won't reverse its decision to close the school at the end of the current school year. Until then, the school's staff and supporters will focus on ensuring the school continues to fulfill its educational mission, Fiegle says.

That would be a fitting tribute to a proud institution.

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