- April 23, 2024
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With a long list of schools in need of repairs, the Volusia County School Board will discuss whether a new elementary school or a brand new K-8 school will be built in either Osceola Elementary or Ortona Elementary at its workshop on Aug. 25, a decision that has been postponed since late June to allow staff a chance to gather more data about bonds and community needs.
And gather data, they did.
During the five-year project plan and capital budget presentation at the School Board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 4, a survey showed that 10 schools — including Osceola, Ortona, Turie T., Starke and McInnis Elementary—are considered to be in poor condition. Two were listed as being in critical condition: Woodward Elementary in DeLand and Tomoka Elementary in Ormond Beach.
Keeping in mind the uncertainties surrounding revenue, COVID-19 and how many students will actually return to a brick and mortar option, School Board member Linda Cuthbert said she still favored building a new K-5 for the Osceola/Ortona merger, rather than a K-8.
“I would prefer to redirect that to our two critical schools that we need to take care of," she said.
She also thought it would be wise of the board not to bond more than 40 million, an option that could allow renovating Woodward Elementary in fiscal year 2022 and building a new school for Tomoka in fiscal year 2023, while building a new elementary school for Osceola and Ortona in fiscal year 2021.
Data also showed that 551 students living in a two-mile radius around the International Speedway Area west of South Ridgewood Avenue and east of South Nova Road, an area the district titled Central Halifax, are being bussed to 12 different schools outside of their neighborhood despite being zoned for nearby Turie T. Elementary, which is already over capacity.
Four of the 12 schools are in Ormond Beach, including Pathways Elementary which is at a 105% capacity. The data gathered by district staff also showed that the middle schools that would be zoned for families of Ortona and Osceola Elementary students are not over capacity.
At the coming workshop, the board will also have to come to a consensus on how much to bond for the school projects slated for the next five years. School Board Member Carl Persis and Ruben Colon were in favor of taking advantage of the low interest rate for bonds to fix the issues in the local schools.
"Let’s be the board that really tackles these facilities and builds them right and builds them in a first class way," Persis said.
