Community suggests alternatives to Wilkinson Elementary closure

Earlier this year, Wilkinson Elementary celebrated its obtaining of a national STEM certification.

Nonetheless, discussions have recently turned to the subject of the school possibly closing, with students dispersed as early as the 2026-27 school year, to the surrounding schools of Alta Vista, Brentwood and Gulf Gate elementaries.

Concerned parents, teachers and community members filled the seats of the school's cafeteria on the evening of Sept. 18, as they voiced their concerns in a school district-led meeting.

Meredith Karp, whose daughter Mia Karp, a third grader, said her first reaction when hearing of the potential closure was the fact the school is located just down the street.

“Tonight's going to be really, kind of the deciding factor on if there is anything we can do to save the school,” Karp said.

Nonetheless, her concerns have grown to encompass the significance of such an occurrence for the district as a whole.

“You don't want to hear that the school that you get to walk your daughter to every day is closing, so it started off for selfish reasons, but as we started to dig, it's just coming about that there's many others who are at risk of closing,” she said. 

Photo by Ian Swaby

Superintendent of Schools Terry Connor highlighted factors behind the possible closure, including declining enrollment in the district’s schools and the Schools of Hope program.

Schools of Hope allows charter schools to share public school facilities rent-free, where they will receive access to the cafeteria, gym and facilities and transportation at no cost to the charter.

Connor said legislation in June broadens the program's reach, allowing the charters to occupy schools outside of the program’s designated opportunity zones when they cannot find ones within those zones.

On Sept. 24, the State Board of Education will decide whether to approve the law as a rule for implementation. Connor told attendees that with the law already passed, he expects the rule to be approved, and said in January, the district must submit its facility utilizations to the state.

With 391 students, Wilkinson operates at about 50% of its 786-student capacity.

Connor said the meeting would offer a chance to provide context for what the district was facing, while allowing it to hear from the community.

“This school has been long-standing in this area, and people have dedicated their careers here. Families have lived here for a long time, so this is an important opportunity to hear from them,” he said.

Attendees split into three distinct groups involving Wilkinson parents, staff, and concerned community members not from Wilkinson.

One recurring suggestion that emerged was the idea of making Wilkinson a K-8 school.

Meanwhile, of major concern to attendees was the school’s STEM certification and the continuity of the program. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“I will promise this to you, we will make STEM a priority in this process,” Connor said. “We are not just going to let things fall on the wayside when it comes to the STEM initiative, and… if it takes us another two to three years to get accredited, whatever it takes, we're going to be committed to doing that.”

Photo by Ian Swaby

One suggestion of making Wilkinson a STEAM (STEM with arts) learning center and magnet school, provided by the community group, drew applause from the crowd.

Attendees also suggested adding additional capacity for Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten, a state-funded early childhood program to prepare 4-year-olds for kindergarten. Connor said the district currently doesn’t have the infrastructure or personnel for childcare, but he would be willing to partner with a reputable provider.

VPK students do not count in the official capacity report to the state, although the district is allowed to contest these numbers and provide additional information once the report is finalized, said Supervisor of Government Affairs Chris Parenteau.

At the same time, attendees emphasized that what drew them to the school was its small size and family-like status, with one attendee voicing concerns about the possibility of bullying in larger schools, stating it was not an issue at Wilkinson.

Deputy Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer Rachael O’Dea said class size ratios are mandated by the state and consistent among elementary schools, so this aspect of the school would not change.

Another recurring theme was the concept of partnerships with the community, something that Connor is emphasizing in his plan to maximize facility usage introduced during a Sept. 9 meeting.

Parent Jodanna Osceola noted the proximity to Triad Alternative School, Suncoast Polytechnical High School and Faulhaber Fab Lab.

“We back up to almost all of these properties, and if we did that, we could retain students for a very long time, and just keep them right here in our neighborhood, and then people would move here for that,” she said.

Another attendee suggested connections with Riverview High School students, including those in the International Baccalaureate program, and Suncoast Polytechnical High School students, which could involve bilingual students tutoring Wilkinson’s students.

Indeed, the campus is comprised of a large number of students from the Hispanic community, and the potential for a dual-language program was also noted, along with the resource of Dreamer’s Academy, a Sarasota charter school centered on that curriculum.

O’Dea said there had been a proposal from Dreamers Academy to use the space of Wilkinson Elementary in the past.

“They are a partner of ours, and we work really, really well with them,” she said.

If the district does close Wilkinson, one further possibility is that it may also choose to sell its central office space at The Landings, repurposing Wilkinson as the offices.

However, the idea was suggested of moving The Landings to various locations so that the offices would occupy only a portion of Wilkinson, with different departments located at different campuses.

O’Dea said the district was “absolutely” looking into the idea, although there were some legalities to consider when it comes to certain departments operating side-by-side with the public.

The district will explore the solutions that were provided, examining their feasibility.

“It's the middle of our neighborhood,” Karp said. “The park is down the street. Churches are over there. I just feel like if they close it down now, then all future families are also going to lose out of the benefit of having this great little school right here.”

Correction: This story was updated to correct the enrollment number.