School District to Address Crowded Schools at Monday Meeting
Posted on: Wednesday, 14 December 2005, 18:00 CST
By lisa miller
Here we go again.
In response to the most recent overcrowding in northwest schools, the St. Johns County School District is having a town hall meeting 7 p.m. Monday at Bartram Trail High School to discuss possible solutions.
District officials were slim with details on the possible fixes they envision this week, but they did say the two schools directly affected would be Timberlin Creek Elementary School and Switzerland Point Middle School. Parents of current Mill Creek fifth-graders are also encouraged to attend.
Timberlin Creek, along County Road 210, is one of the district's newest elementary schools and opened this year with nearly 300 more students than the school's 700-student capacity. As a result, the district has tacked on a handful of portable classrooms. But with the recent housing boom surrounding the school, district officials say a better solution is needed.
One of the answers could include attendance zone changes, a practice often used by the district to shift students around to schools with space. The district most recently used this technique to move new students in the World Golf Village area from Mill Creek Elementary and Switzerland Point Middle to schools in West Augustine.
That change didn't affect students who already attended the schools, staff said, but applied only to the thousands of new residents expected to move into the area in the coming years.
Officials say Switzerland Point Middle, built for 1,000 students, is also past capacity but an exact enrollment wasn't available at press time.
The district plans to present several options at Monday's meeting, which will be followed by public input. After the meeting, a link will be available on the district Web site so people can share views and concerns about the different plans. School Board members will also have access to the site to read suggestions.lisa.miller@jacksonville.com,(904) 287-0618 ext. 202#
Source: Florida Times Union
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