Resegregation continues in south Pinellas schools

ST. PETERSBURG — The resegregation of south Pinellas schools is continuing and in some cases accelerating.

The latest enrollment figures show the percentage of black students increased this year at 13 of 14 schools that now have a majority of black students.

At Fairmount Park Elementary, it grew from 69 to 86 percent. At Woodlawn Elementary, it grew from 42 to 60 percent.

The shift isn't a surprise, given the return to neighborhood schools. But it puts a fresh exclamation point on the challenge the district faces in boosting the achievement of black students, who as a group struggle more than white students.

For more than three decades, Pinellas capped the percentage of black students who could attend a school — and used busing to keep the caps intact. Under the school choice plan that was scrapped two years ago, no school was allowed to be more than 42 percent black.

Now eight schools are more than 60 percent black. Four are more than 70 percent black.

Trend lines show the rate of resegregation slowed this year at Gibbs and Lakewood high schools and Bay Point Middle School. The rate was up at John Hopkins Middle and six of 10 elementary schools.

Only Sanderlin Elementary, a countywide magnet with a primary years International Baccalaureate program, showed no rise in the percent of black students.

Black students in Pinellas fare worse than those in every other big district in Florida. In July, the Pinellas County School Board promised in a legal agreement that it would offer more specific remedies and hold school-level officials accountable for progress.

Times staff writer Donna Winchester contributed to this report.