- December 4, 2025
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There’s no “For Sale” sign in front of Sarasota County Schools' central office in The Landings yet, but a proposal is gaining momentum to move the district’s operations 3 miles east to Wilkinson Elementary School, but only after first reassigning students there to three other schools nearby.
In a timeline that involves surveys, outreach and more, a School Board vote to set the proposal in motion could take place by late November.
The school district’s central office complex sits on about 8.5 acres zoned for office and professional space. The Sarasota County Property Appraiser values it at around $19 million.
Wilkinson students would disperse as early as next school year to Alta Vista, Brentwood and Gulf Gate elementaries in surrounding neighborhoods.
The notion is a component of Superintendent Terry Connor’s broader plan, rolled out to board members Sept. 9, to keep county schools operating closer to capacity and develop wider educational programs to better compete with alternative-school options.
“We look to act,’’ Connor said. “We can’t sit around and do nothing that things will just become rosy and better for us. We have to get into a posture of being proactive about the resources our taxpayers have entrusted to us as stewards.’’
Of deepest concern are effects of the state’s Schools of Hope program, first proposed in 2017 by then-Speaker of the House Richard Corcoran, now the president of New College. Evolved from its original idea, Schools of Hope allows, among other things, high-performing charter schools designated by the state to simultaneously occupy educational space in under-capacity traditional schools.
With a capacity of 786 children, Wilkinson operates at about 50%. The three surrounding schools are at about 60% capacity.
“If we have a school that is under 50%, half the school is empty,’’ Connor said. “We have maybe a wing or several classrooms that are not currently being utilized because enrollment has declined over the years. That provides an opportunity for a School of Hope operator to essentially make an intent to say ‘we want to designate that space for our school.’ And if they do that, the kicker is we also have to not only provide the space but we also have to provide the transportation for the students, the food service, the custodial, the security support, the shared spaces — the cafeteria, the gym — all of that comes at no cost to the operator.”
Proponents say Schools of Hope-designated operations open options for parents by allowing the charter school to set up in established facilities of traditional schools without having to find and pay for facilities of their own. Opponents point to the predicament school districts find themselves in, potentially acting as an unpaid charter-school landlord.
School Board member Liz Barker called it a “failed experiment, and not good for our students and not good for families.’’
School Board member Tom Edwards was equally staunch.
“This is a wealthy county, and they want access to those dollars,’’ he said. “Before we move forward, the community deserves to understand exactly what’s at stake.”
Finances and loss of students to other forms of education such as homeschooling and private schools, are also driving the shift in thinking, especially in light of Florida’s voucher program — referred to as Florida Empowerment School scholarships. Losses of students to FES scholarship-funded private schools affect public school districts’ state funding.
Among the superintendent’s specific financial considerations: costs associated with operating the 1984-vintage central offices in The Landings and the fixed operating costs of running a cluster of four under-capacity schools. Closing Wilkinson would eliminate four potential Schools of Hope opportunities by pushing enrollment in the three remaining schools into the 70s or higher. Zoned enrollment — the total of grade-level students who live in a school’s zone regardless of their educational choice and potentially could attend public school at some point — would also soar by eliminating Wilkinson from the mix.
Filling the seatsAccording to a plan proposed by Sarasota Public Schools, closing Wilkinson Elementary School next school year would bolster enrollment at three nearby elementary schools. | |||
| School | Enrolled 2025 | Enrolled 2026 (est.) | % of Capacity 2026 |
| Alta Vista | 406 | 684 | 81% |
| Brentwood | 550 | 768 | 78% |
| Gulf Gate | 550 | 681 | 75% |
| Source: Sarasota Public Schools | |||
Other pieces of Connor’s plan involve connecting with private-sector partners to enhance segments of learning to keep students in public-school seats.
Junior Achievement connections with local businesses are just one example. Overhauling the curriculum at Brookside Middle School to attract new students is another.
Also on the table, partnering with private organizations to use open space for child care or pre-K.
“I am sad to be having this conversation,’’ Barker said. “I do see the potential for new and innovative ideas, and I’m thrilled to hear we’re talking about child care, talking about what else can we deliver for our families, but anytime we talk about closing school like that, that’ll gut you."
The Landings campus, on Tamiami Trail south of Sarasota’s city limits, was built in 1984 as professional offices and purchased by the school district in 1995. The four buildings are each identified by the color of their entry awnings, cover about 95,500 square feet of office space.
New when Teddy Ruxpin and the internet were still novel ideas, the buildings today lack the security-minded design, wind resistance and capacity of modern government buildings, Connor said, adding about $65 million in deferred maintenance is outstanding. They are also in a flood zone.
Annual operating costs are around $612,000.which includes $6,000 to The Landings Management Association.
One thing moving to Wilkinson can’t solve is location, though.
As Sarasota County’s population shifts south toward new developments along Interstate 75, there is also a need to reset where a central office resides, said School Board member Bridget Ziegler.
The same population shift to the south is a factor in the dwindling enrollment of the four schools under discussion.
“In my mind, a central office should be central,’’ she said after acknowledging that talk about shifting from The Landings has been a conversation topic for years. “We have developers we can have conversations with, perhaps there is land, I don’t know, but I’m saying more central by the highway. I want to pull in staff and make it easy to get there, to drive.’’
School district Executive Director of Facilities Services Jody Dumas said the district at one time considered relocating offices to land adjacent to Pine View School and other possibilities.
“It comes down to land, land, land,’’ he said. “You’re talking about building a new facility from the ground up; you’re talking about a very expensive proposition these days. So the conversations have always been about trying to offset as much of those costs with the sale of this property because we always try to maximize our revenue at our school sites.’’
In district documents, school officials estimate a sales price of between $14 million and $18 million. A potential lease-back plan with a buyer until Wilkinson is ready is estimated to cost $1.7 million annually.
Connor assured School Board members that decisions on moving ahead on the early phases of the proposal will be informed by deep layers of community involvement. But, a January deadline looms for data on school capacity.
"We’d obviously need stakeholder input on parking, security and costs, but before any move we’d want a market analysis and a listing agent to put this property up for sale. Then we’d phase the relocation process so it aligns with our other facility strategies," Connor said.
Key dates ahead include:
Board chair Robyn A. Marinelli said it wasn't so long ago that the state of schools in the northern half of Sarasota County was much different. And while the Schools of Hope effect and other factors affect the conversation, they are not driving it.
"At one time, Wilkinson was a big school, had the portables, same thing with with Gulf Gate, she said. "These are all top-quality, Alta Vista, top-quality schools, top-quality staff, administration but unfortunately they are shrinking. We would be having this conversation anyway.''
