School district leaders across the Tampa Bay region are reassessing their short- and long-term plans as they watch student enrollment fall.
Hillsborough County, which in recent years shuttered six under-capacity schools, had nearly 10,000 fewer students after two weeks of classes than it had at the same time last year. Officials would not say how that compared to their projections, but teacher union leaders said they were told to expect a dip of about 7,000.
Pinellas County school leaders anticipated their student population would decline by about 3,400 children, but saw a drop of about 3,650 after the first two weeks of classes. The decrease compounds a years-long slide as the county has experienced a dwindling birth rate with limited residential growth…