- April 25, 2024
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The school district’s plan to install five portables at Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club to alleviate school space could be put on hold as the district explores other options.
Instead of purchasing and installing the portables, which would cost nearly $1 million including site preparation, there could be more cost-effective alternatives, said Paul Peacock, the district’s chief operations officer.
Peacock said district staff is “taking a deep dive” to look into other locations where the TRAIL Transition Program and iFlagler Virtual School can be moved. Options would include existing portables and available building space on other school properties.
“We may be able to combine programs based on scheduling,” Peacock said, using adult education programs as an example, where a facility used in the evenings could be available for school-day use.
“I think operational efficiencies is one of our main goals,” he said. “Can we use currently owned facilities at little to no cost instead of jumping into something else?”
The five custom portables, which were scheduled to be located at the area of the Swim and Racquet Club’s tennis courts, would cost $582,247, according to a district purchase order report. Site prep would cost close to another $500,000, Peacock said.
Moving the TRAIL program from Indian Trails Middle School and iFlagler’s offices and meeting space from Matanzas High School will create additional student stations at those schools.
The TRAIL program currently occupies four classrooms at ITMS, Peacock said.
“We’re very close to capacity of rooms,” he said.
At a School Board agenda workshop March 1, Dave Freeman, the district’s director of plant services, said he sold the permanent portable at the Swim and Racquet Club for about $10,000.
“We will have that removed by the end of March,” Freeman said.
