INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Osceola Magnet Elementary School could find a new home in Dodgertown Elementary, the Indian River County School Board discussed Tuesday. Doing so would save the School District at least $9.5 million, district officials said.
“We know we have to relocated Osceola Magnet School,” Superintendent Dr. Fran Adams told the School Board. Recent flooding has only served as a reminder of the need.
The potential relocation to the Gifford school adds to the list of sites for the magnet school, including the Pointe West and Waterway Village developments. Building new campuses at either community is expected to cost about $20 million.
Relocating to Dodgertown would cost the district about half that amount.
In all three cases, the School District would have to overhaul its school assignment zones almost district-wide. The only school that’s boundaries would not be affected would be Fellsmere Elementary.
If the School District were to build a brand new campus at either Pointe West, a development on State Road 60 east of Interstate 95, or at Waterway Village, located near 58th Avenue and 53rd Street, the new school would be built larger – to accommodate 768 student stations.
Doing so would allow Osceola Magnet to bring in more students, taking from other traditional elementary schools, according to Adams, which would necessitate rezoning.
If the board decided to pick up Osceola Magnet and move it to Dodgertown, the 426 Dodgertown students would be redistributed amongst the county’s other elementary schools.
The school’s teachers would be transferred to other schools.
Adams told the School Board that there is enough capacity at Dodgertown Elementary to accommodate Osceola Magnet and enough capacity at other schools to handle Dodgertown’s displaced students.
She explained that a new wing at both Citrus and Treasure Coast elementaries would replace portables and “concretables” at those schools, plus provide enough space for future student enrollment growth.
“We think that’s the most efficient way to do this,” Adams said.
Dodgertown was targeted as the latest possible option for Osceola Magnet due to its central location within the county and its dwindling student enrollment, Adams said.
School Board members were split in their opinions regarding relocating Osceola Magnet to Dodgertown, especially now that the District has hammered out a proposed agreement with Pointe West’s developers to build Osceola Magnet’s new campus onsite.
Board Chair Matt McCain said that the District – and Osceola Magnet – have long planned to move to Pointe West. He pointed out that the property at Pointe West won’t be there indefinitely and, if not acted on, would be “opportunity loss.”
School Board member Carol Johnson said she did not believe she could approve the Dodgertown option.
Instead of relocating Osceola Magnet to the Dodgertown campus, Johnson suggested looking into moving the School District’s administrative offices there.
Board member Jeff Pegler appeared to be torn between the two options – Pointe West and Dodgertown.
He questioned the District putting more money into a campus that was built in 1967.
Director of Facilities Susan Olson reminded the School Board that Dodgertown Elementary has been renovated multiple times over the years, been given new classroom wings, a new cafeteria and a new air conditioning and heating system.
“We would not be sending anyone to a second-rate campus,” Adams told the School Board.
School Board member Karen Disney-Brombach was the most supportive of the Dodgertown option for Osceola Magnet, explaining that the school could relocate in time for the 2012-13 school year – a year earlier than the other two options.
“We do have an opportunity to change direction,” she said, referring to considering an option different from Pointe West.
Disney-Brombach, who has voiced concerns about agreeing to set aside student stations at the magnet school for Pointe West children, said the Dodgertown Elementary option would not mean a change to the District’s student assignment policy.
She also applauded the District’s ability to save $9.5 million by choosing Dodgertown.
“That has to be brought out,” she said.
Board member Claudia Jimenez didn’t speak directly to any of the three options as her preference, but thanked School District staff for thinking outside the box. She told her fellow board members that all the options have benefits and impacts.
“This has been going on for years – 40, 50 years,” she said of the flooding issue at Osceola Magnet. “As a board member, I feel embarrassed that nothing has happened in all this time.”
Jimenez said the School Board needs to make a decision and move forward.
“The need is getting critical,” she added.
Superintendent Dr. Adams plans to make a final recommendation at the Dec. 13 School Board meeting. The board is expected to make a decision at that time.
