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Leaders Aim to Build Schools: Bay District Looking to Build 6 New Schools, Currently Renovating Old Ones

Posted on: Friday, 16 June 2006, 15:00 CDT

By S. Brady Calhoun, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Jun. 16--Bay District Schools is planning to build six new schools by 2011.

Wayne Elmore, the facilities manager for the district, told School Board members about the facility needs and the construction schedule earlier this week.

The new schools are needed because of a growing population and the class-size amendment, Elmore said Thursday.

The state amendment mandates that school districts reduce the student-to-teacher ratio in each class. High school classes went from 30 students per class to 25, middle schools dropped to 22 students and elementary dropped to 18.

Those drops mean that the district lost 3,000 "student stations," Elmore said. Student stations are the places where students sit in classrooms.

By August 2008, district leaders hope to have completed construction on a K-8 school in Panama City Beach near Arnold High School. They also hope to complete an elementary school along County 2321 near Lynn Haven.

The St. Joe Co. is donating the land for the K-8 while another developer is donating the land for the elementary school.

The land for the elementary school comes with only a few strings attached, Elmore said: The developers asked that the elementary school be named after their nearby development -- Magnolia Springs.

The recent cooperation of some developers represents a major change in attitudes, Elmore said during a Wednesday School Board workshop.

When Elmore began looking for land, "nobody even agreed to talk to us, much less sell to us."

Now, developers are realizing that a nearby school can help them out.

"Strong schools make strong communities," said School Board member Donna Allen.

Building the schools will cost a total of $40 million and will be paid for with a bond.

"We don't have the money in the bank," Elmore said. "We can save up the money, but we would not be doing anything to maintain the existing plant."

The district is spending between $14 million and $18 million each year to renovate existing schools. Included in that renovation budget is about $5 million each year in half-cent sales tax money, Elmore said.

New Horizons Learning Center, Parker Elementary School, Cherry Street Elementary School, Southport Elementary School and Everitt Middle School all are in various stages of renovation.

New Horizons is getting a new facility that includes a room for a cafetorium and several classroom buildings. Last year, the school was merely a collection of portables.

New Horizons is home to about 165 students who have been expelled or have severe emotional problems, said Principal David Creel.

With the addition of real classrooms and a cafetorium, Creel's students will be able to avoid inclement weather, and he can have meetings with the entire student body.

"A new school that looks like any other school will give our kids feelings of higher self-esteem," Creel said. "They will feel like they're as valuable as anybody else."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The News Herald

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