SEBASTIAN — Plans are moving forward for a new campus at Sebastian Charter Junior High. Donations are coming in and construction plans are being approved at the charter school located on Wave Street.
The Sebastian City Council recently approved a temporary variance for the school’s project that will allow a portable to sit closer to the property’s boundary than would normally be allowed. “They need that to alleviate their crowding during construction,” said Growth Management Manager Jan King of the school’s portable.
The charter school has a waiting list of students wanting to attend, according to school officials, which has necessitated the portable.
Once the permanent school building is constructed, the portable, and the rest of the existing school buildings will be removed to make way for the school’s second phase. That phase is expected to include a multi-purpose/cafeteria building.
School officials told the Sebastian City Council that the building will be available to the community during non-school hours.
So far, Sebastian Charter Junior High has raised or secured $3.5 million of the needed $4.5 million for the new school campus. Of that, $480,000 is coming from the Indian River County School District, whose board appropriated funding to four of the county’s charter schools.
The new campus, to be located on the school’s current 2.16-acre site, will nearly double the school’s current size and provide additional classroom space, areas for conferences, more storage and even a separate library and computer lab.
The Sebastian City Council unanimously approved the location of the temporary classroom portable.
