Q: Can you bring us up to date on transportation for St. Johns Forest students [as of interview date of Feb. 17]?
A: The current sidewalk [along 2209] is scheduled to be demolished shortly and a new safer one, rerouted farther from the roadway, will be built. While this is happening, the school district will provide temporary bus transportation to the approximately 200 affected students. The bus transportation will continue through the end of this school year even if the new sidewalk is completed by then. The walk zone will be completed by the start of next school year and bus transportation will end.
Because of the bus driver shortage we are experiencing, we will need to run some double and even some triple runs, so I’d ask everyone to please be patient. This interim transportation will cost more than $75,000 and I’d like to give kudos to Sen. Hutson who worked hard to get the funds to make this happen.
Q: Do you have an update on the new schools under construction?
A: They are all coming along. Things look slow at first while they are completing the horizontal construction, but once things go vertical, it will look like a lot is happening.
Q: Can you shed some light on the school district’s decision to lease office space in the World Golf Village area?
A: We voted in February to lease part of the second floor of the old Tree of Life building, which is located east of Interstate 95 at International Golf Parkway, because we are out of office space at Orange Street. We were able to negotiate a good price per square foot and utilities are included. We plan to consolidate our curriculum department in this central location, which will allow for collaboration on curriculum issues so we can better support our schools and support our students.
Q: Are there any specific areas for parent feedback at this time?
A: Yes, there are a couple. First, our master calendars for the 2024 – 2025 and the 2025 – 2026 school years are on our website (www.stjohns.k12.fl.us). Two versions are available and one of them provides a full week off for Thanksgiving. We are looking for input from parents.
Also, this is the time of year for SAC surveys at the school level. We ask parents to please participate so that we can make any needed changes at individual schools and district-wide.
Q: When can parents register their rising kindergarten children for next school year?
A: Registration for new students to our district and kindergarten students opens on March 1. Online registration is available at www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/student/enrollment along with more information.
Q: Do you have any kudos to share?
A: Yes. We recognized Emma Cevallos, a fifth grader at St. Johns Virtual School at our February school board meeting. She earned first place in the elementary category in the Hispanic Heritage Month essay contest, which is sponsored by Florida’s First Lady, Casey DeSantis. This year’s theme was “Celebrating the Achievements of Hispanic Floridians.”
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.
