Is a Bradenton elementary school closing? Officials address rumors at parent meeting

Parents, teachers and community members are rallying around a Bradenton elementary school this week as rumors swirl of its potential closure.

“It’s recently come to the Bradenton community’s attention that the future of our beloved Palma Sola Elementary School is being threatened,” says a change.org petition launched over the weekend that has over 3,500 signatures in support of the school.

The state recently recommended that the school be torn down and rebuilt rather than renovated due to its age and condition, school district officials said this week in response to the rumors.

The school board has not decided whether it will proceed with a rebuild.

More than 200 people packed into Palma Sola’s cafeteria on Wednesday evening for a meeting of the School Advisory Council.

Some families walked to the meeting from homes in the surrounding neighborhoods, where signs sporting the Palma Sola Panthers paw print along the sidewalk read “Save Our School.”

“We’re hoping to get some answers on what’s going on,” said Hollie Wollard, one of the parents organizing to save the school. “We’ve had to find out through the rumor mill, and that’s not a good place to be.”

Inside, school district Superintendent Cynthia Saunders fielded questions from more than a dozen concerned parents and community members who signed up to speak in front of the crowd.

“I can tell you right now, Palma Sola as it stands today will be in place in August,” Saunders said.

But the school’s long-term future will be decided by the school board, Saunders said, with talks scheduled to start at a Feb. 17 workshop.

“We live across the street. This is why we bought our home,” said Kristina Snyderman, the Palma Sola parent that launched the online petition.

“We just need to be heard, and we need transparency.”

School’s future uncertain

District officials have not confirmed whether Palma Sola could close.

“Any conversations concerning the closing of Palma Sola Elementary, or any other school, is pure speculation and rumor at this point,” read a statement provided by school district spokesman Michael Barber to the Bradenton Herald on Wednesday.

“The School Board is planning a workshop, scheduled for Feb. 17, to begin discussions regarding several elementary schools in west Bradenton that are currently under capacity in terms of students. Any Board discussions on those matters will be fully public and open to the media.”

Palma Sola Elementary has a capacity of 600 students, according to the district’s website. It currently serves 440, with a teacher-student ratio of about 13:1, state records show.

“It’s a benefit that has always helped our children thrive,” the change.org petition says of Palma Sola’s small class sizes.

Saunders said Wednesday that capacity will not necessarily factor into a decision about whether to keep the school open.

She pointed to Blackburn Elementary School as an example, another older school which the district opted to tear down and rebuild at a smaller size to adjust with decreasing enrollment.

Funds are currently assigned for upgrades at Palma Sola in the school district’s five-year capital plan. But school board could choose to reassign those funds at any time.

State recommends tearing down school

In a recent assessment of school properties in Manatee County, the state recommended that Palma Sola be torn down, district superintendent Saunders said at a school board meeting on Tuesday night.

Saunders said that a report completed five years ago that found that eight buildings in the district, including Palma Sola Elementary, were found to be in poor condition.

All of those buildings have now been addressed except for two: Palma Sola and the Walter Miller School Support Center, where the district holds its meetings.

“The state gave us back a report before Christmas break that said cost-effectively, (the school) is very aged. Their recommendation was to tear it down,” Saunders said.

Elementary school staff at Tuesday’s meeting said they had previously been told the school would be rebuilt, not closed.

“For the record, there have been no official board meetings, or decisions or discussions about Palma Sola,” Saunders said. “We have to address what the report says and how we will rectify and move forward.”

Before the school board meeting, community members held signs along Manatee Avenue supporting Palma Sola, and several addressed the board during a public comment session.

Palma Sola art teacher Doreen Chaloupka-Cosentino said the rumors came to the attention of staff at a voluntary meeting called by the school’s administration last week.

“I know and have confidence that we will all crash this rumor and propose a plan,” Chaloupka-Cosentino said.

“We are supposed to to be rebuilt like all of the other schools,” she added. “We’re not letting our lands come from underneath us, or who knows what. Please help us,” she said to the board.

Chaloupka-Cosentino’s comments were cheered by the audience, prompting a reprimand of the crowd from school board chair Chad Choate.

“My daughter graduated as a University of Florida as a dentist at 24 years old from her beginnings at Palma Sola Elementary,” said Margaret Harvey.

Established in 1961, Palma Sola Elementary School is at 6806 Fifth Avenue Northwest in Bradenton, near the coast on mainland Manatee County.

The school consistently scores above the district and state average on its assessments, state records show.

The school earned an B grade in 2021-22, an A grade in 2020-21, a B in 2018-19 and a C in 2017-18.