- April 26, 2024
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Is the Riverview Learning Center's transfer to the former Osceola Elementary campus in Ormond Beach a final decision?
Volusia County Schools will hold a community meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 18, at Osceola at 100 Osceola Ave. to discuss the transfer of the program, but some residents who live surrounding the beachside campus still have concerns — and are wondering if the decision can be reversed altogether.
Residents who spoke before the School Board at its meeting on Tuesday, March 12, cited issues such as safety, subpar conditions at Osceola campus and a lack of input from residents who live in the neighborhood as reasons for the School Board to consider transferring the Riverview program elsewhere next school year.
"Our area is predominantly filled with younger families, elderly retirees and second homes," resident Lindsey Wolf said. "These properties are some of the most vulnerable, should a student with behavioral problems get off campus due to lack of security. The fact that you all as a board have completely looked in the other direction at these issues is extremely disappointing."
Wolf said the School Board wasn't honest with their intent of the property — which is currently being used to house the students and faculty of Tomoka Elementary as their school is rebuilt — and that has caused a lack of trust.
The main problem with the transfer of Riverview, resident Josephine Levenstein said, was a lack of communication. While the district received input from residents who live near the current Riverview main campus at 801 N. Wild Olive Ave., she said residents who live near Osceola had "zero idea" the transfer was being proposed.
"It's a red flag when there's no communication and you guys vote on it with zero input," she said.
This time, neighbors did receive a written notice on their doors about the upcoming community meeting, Levenstein said. She also questioned why the district is opting to renovate the current main Riverview campus for administrative offices instead of doing so for students. The transfer of the program from its current locations at 801 N. Wild Olive Ave. (sixth to 12th grade) and within Silver Sands Middle School (elementary school), will allow all of its students to be housed in the same campus.
"As a volunteer at [Osceola], I have my questions about whether that building is even good for those kids to come in," she said. "Is that the best option? New desks and new books are going to do what if the building itself is not really up to terms for them either. I don't even think it's good enough to be a school right now for Tomoka."
School Board member Carl Persis said there's a lot of good that will come from the upcoming meeting, which was called before the Ormond Beach City Commission asked for a letter requesting it.
"I think we really got to do a great, professional job and also be listening to what they're saying, because there are a few things that I think we could do in that property that would make many of them happy," Persis said. "Not really related to the alternative ed program coming there, but just some other things that have been lingering on and on."
School Board member Ruben Colon said he was concerned with the Riverview issue as well, and that he tuned in to the City Commission meeting on March 5 and listened to all of the concerns raised. It prompted him to question if the district did communicate effectively about the Riverview transfer.
"What I heard that night was that we did't fill in the blanks," Colon said. "We didn't really share with them what to expect. ... We allowed other folks to fill those blanks in for us. They are envisioning that they're getting a mini prison that is locked up, when in reality, there's probably more craziness at any one of our middle schools and high schools when that bell rings and we allow all these children into the community."
While the district could have done better, he said, there was notice of the Dec. 5, 2023, community meeting.
The district announced the meeting on its Facebook page on Nov. 27, 2023, and on the day of the meeting. The meeting was included in a long list of other community meetings regarding districtwide school rezonings. It listed Riverview Learning Center as the impacted school zoning, and Osceola as the meeting's location. A planned Dec. 6, 2023, meeting to discuss Riverview was canceled.
An email was also shared on Nov. 1, 2023 with all of the county's municipalities' planning department informing them "district staff is recommending attendance boundary changes" with the intent to balance enrollment to relive over-utilized schools and maximize under-utilized schools, Colon said.
The School Board also mentioned that the students who are sent to Riverview often stay for a nine-week period, a semester, or rarely, a school year, for a violation of the student code of conduct — not for committing crimes. Board Chair Jamie Haynes said that if the students had done something that warranted being sent to a detention center or jail, the district wouldn't place them in Riverview.
"[Residents] need to be very careful of what they're saying because every child is valuable," Haynes said. "And just because a child messes up one time, does not mean that they lose their value."
