- June 21, 2025
Flagler Schools is trying to open up school choice.
Right now, three district schools — Belle Terre Elementary, Indian Trails Middle and Flagler Palm Coast High School — are not available for school choice because of a School Board policy that caps options at schools that are at 90% capacity.
The district would like to remove that cap and give students more flexibility to transfer to out-of-zone schools in the upcoming school year.
Superintendent LaShakia Moore is recommending that in place of a hard cap the superintendent would establish an annual threshold based on data that would allow students to choose schools if seats are available in a particular program of study or specific grade level regardless of overall capacity. The threshold would be posted on the district’s website so parents can be aware of what’s available.
Moore said the change would give parents the opportunity to select any school within the district to educate their children without having to apply for a hardship transfer.
“So much has changed in education, and school choice has evolved as well,” Moore said. “It’s important to me that we stay current and flexible with the changes that have come in education.”
The board passed a resolution to advertise the recommended policy change by a 4-1 vote at its May 27 business meeting. The resolution could come up for a final vote on June 24 or, if necessary, be added to the agenda at one of the special budget meetings in early July, Moore said.
“Right now, we have several families who are sitting and waiting to see if this is approved or not so that their kid can go to the school of their choice,” Moore said. “We are reviewing and updating all of our policies right now, and so we're doing this ahead of the masses of policies because we want our kids to be able to start on day one.”
Janie Ruddy was the lone board member to vote against advertising the proposed policy change, seeking to postpone the vote until more information could be gathered. She wondered if “fluctuating capacity” would reduce transparency and create mistrust. She said she doesn’t want to see schools over-saturated.
“I have been in schools with 100% capacity,” said Ruddy, a former Flagler Schools teacher. “It means you don’t have art in an art room, you have art on a cart.”
Moore said over-populating schools is not a concern right now. All of the district’s schools, except for Matanzas High School, have had larger student populations in past years. And the district can add staffing and resources to schools that gain student population, Moore said.
What is a concern, Moore said, is students leaving the school district for other options if their school of choice is not available based on the current policy.
With more families in Florida receiving vouchers for private and home-school options, the state is projecting fewer student populations in all but about 10 of 67 school districts, Moore said. The Florida Department of Education is projecting Flagler Schools to have about 3% less students that it will have to fund in the upcoming school year.
“So, it's projected that fewer dollars will be going to the districts as more families are taking scholarships,” Moore said. “When you think about education right now, parents can educate their kids wherever they want to. So, Belle Terre Elementary may be their first choice. If they can't get into Belle Terre Elementary School, they may choose their second choice. And that second choice may be something other than Flagler Schools, and that's what we want to eliminate.”
