Declining enrollment at Gemini Elementary has already made it tough to manage and staff a school designed to serve 711 students with only 418 set to show up for class in August, and those numbers are not expected to improve without a creative, proactive effort on behalf of school district officials to keep Gemini viable.
Even more troubling is, despite regular headlines boasting tech firms and defense contractors adding hundreds, even thousands of high-paying professional jobs, and Realtors reporting a hot market throughout the South Beaches, five-year projections show Gemini’s student population continuing to decline. District staff analysis estimates Gemini will be at 52 percent capacity in 2022.
Brevard School District Assistant Superintendent of Facilities Dane Theodore said he wanted to make one thing very clear: “We have no intentions to close the school.”
Schools receive a per-student allocation which not only pays instructional staff, but also administration and support positions, as well as overhead. One strategy the district could employ to boost enrollment would be to add sought-after programs or services that would target new students. Examples Theodore gave were moving audiological services to the school, or other special education, such as enhanced gifted programs. “Re-zoning schools can get complicated” he said, especially when city boundary lines are crossed he continued. They would consider programs before re-zoning.
Sea Park Elementary has been targeted for closure four times since 2000, but in part due to public outcry, Sea Park has happily managed to escape closure and maintain a steady enrollment. In 2012 the Satellite Beach school had 354 students enrolled, with the ability to serve 461. Currently at 70 percent capacity Sea Park finished last year with 339 students. District projections put Sea Park slightly lower at 66 percent by the year 2022, with 306 students.
Indialantic Elementary finished last year at 94 percent capacity with 751 students enrolled. In 2012 the school had 725 students enrolled. Officials are projecting 730 students for the 2017-2018 school year, putting the school at 92 percent capacity. District projections have Indialantic Elementary increasing back to 94 percent in the year 2022 with 743 students.
Surfside Elementary has the capacity to serve 523 students, but in 2012 there were only 391 students enrolled. In 2016 that number had improved, with 475 students enrolled, putting Surfside at 91 percent of capacity. District projections put Surfside at 98 percent of capacity in 2022 with 513 students.
Ocean Breeze Elementary School in Indian Harbour Beach can serve 654 students. In 2012 it had 560 students, but declined somewhat, finishing out the 2016-2017 school year at 79 percent of capacity with 519 students enrolled. School district officials project enrollment to rise very slightly to 525 students this fall for 80 percent capacity, but then to fall to 475 students, or 73 percent of capacity in 2022.
Holland Elementary School nearest Patrick Air Force Base was built to serve 605 students. Last year Holland had 466 students, with 450 projected to attend this fall, placing the school at 74 percent of capacity. District projections show Holland to be on the rise, with 539 students expected in 2022, when it would be at 89 percent of capacity.
Of all the beachside schools, DeLaura Middle School has most extreme fluctuation in numbers in relation to previous years. In 2012 DeLaura had 706 students, the following year went up to 803 and two years later down to 699. Last year DeLaura had 703 and are projected to have 728 this fall. By the year 2022 the school is projected to increase to 757 putting it at 80 percent capacity.
Hoover Middle School just outside Indialantic had 543 students in 2012. The school, which serves parts of Indian Harbour Beach south to the Sebastian Inlet, finished the 2016 school year with 509 students and projects an enrollment of 515 in the fall. District officials project Hoover, to be at 73 percent capacity with 484 students in 2022. That drop is predicated partially on projected declines at Gemini Elementary, one of its main feeder schools.
Satellite High School can serve 1,516 students. In 2012 it enrolled only 1,169 students and finished last year with 1,356. The district projects a slight uptick to 1,404 students in 2022, putting Satellite at 93 percent capacity.
The Brevard County School District operates nine public schools on the south barrier island – all of which are A rated by state criteria for student achievement. This is a huge selling point for families looking to move into neighborhoods offering quality public education at schools that are not, according to district statistics, overcrowded. In other words, the South Beaches should be a magnet for young families, or young professionals looking ahead at having children.
As part of an ongoing report on school population trends, the Melbourne Beachsider will continue to examine these numbers and the underlying causes of the trends and fluctuations.