Q: Can you address the issue of additional portables being added to schools to help alleviate overcrowding?
A: One of the things we discussed at the Town Hall meeting held recently at Freedom Crossing Academy was that the school district is bringing 120 additional portables to 16 different schools throughout the county. Most are in the northern part of the county, but not all. Growth is coming so fast and we cannot control how quickly the new houses come online.Â
It’s important to note that we lease the portables; we do not purchase them. By leasing, the portables do not become part of the permanent capacity of the school. They are not included in the required percentages of seats available and therefore we can build additional schools more quickly.
Q: What kinds of solutions besides portables did you come up with at the Town Hall meeting?
A: We talked about near term and long term solutions. For the near term, we will do a rezoning in the fall to balance the schools in the NW sector. Many will still likely be overcrowded, but it will be more even. We don’t have a plan yet, but when we do, we will bring just one plan for discussion at meetings with public input. We hope to have this settled in the early spring before school is out for the summer.
For a longer term solution, we are planning to build K-8 School NN in Shearwater. We have selected the architect and soon will put the contract out to bid. We want to get started as soon as possible so the school can accept students in August 2023.
The school district planning department asked us to include the zoning for the new K-8 School NN with the NW rezoning, so we will address both together.
Q: Why was the school site in Shearwater selected over the site in RiverTown?
A: First, Shearwater has been waiting longer and we have accumulated funds from their impact fees and property taxes so that we can pay for this school outright. We will not have to borrow any money to build this school. This gives us a year’s breather on bonding capacity and then we can borrow more later to build the next school … or two.Â
Additionally, RiverTown has promised us three parcels for schools: one middle school site and two elementary school sites. None of these sites are large enough for a K-8 school and only one has been deeded to us so far. The Shearwater site has been deeded to us and is ready to go.
Q: How can our readers contact you?
A: They can email me at beverly.slough@stjohns.k12.fl.us or call me at (904) 547-7510.
