Port St. Lucie’s proposal to develop a vocational-technical school in Tradition Commerce Center received a green light Tuesday from the St. Lucie County School Board.
The board voted unanimously to approve the charter school application for the Somerset Career Academy Port St. Lucie, which will serve 1,520 students in grades 6-12.
The approval is contingent upon four conditions, including requiring Somerset to provide programs in manufacturing, architecture and construction, and health sciences and human services.
The school district has 30 days to provide Somerset with its proposed charter for the vo-tech school. District and Somerset officials will then have 40 days to negotiate the charter’s terms.
“I know what the law says and I know we have very little recourse because there is no reason to not accept it at this time,” said School Board Vice Chairwoman Kathryn Hensley.
“There is nobody that’s said that I have heard that they’re against this,” Hensley said. “The big deal will be the contract that goes forward with the minutiae, the accountability features, the curriculum descriptions.”
Community residents are concerned about how the vo-tech will develop and operate, Hensley said.
An analysis by the school district’s legal director, Johnathan Ferguson, determined the application mainly met state standards, but raised concerns about Somerset’s construction, financial and management plans.
Somerset estimated it would cost $17.7 million, or $165 per square foot, to construct the vo-tech school. But Ferguson said “the reported cost to build such a highly specialized school facility is not feasible.”
“The facility financing budget is also lacking sufficient detail,” Ferguson said. Somerset officials couldn’t explain how they would cover their expenses in their first months of operations.
In addition, Somerset College Preparatory Academy Principal Erika Rains will also serve as principal of the vo-tech school with few administrators to help her manage the operations, Ferguson said.
“Ms. Rains is a phenomenal leader, she does an exceptional job,” said School Board member Troy Ingersoll.
“My concern is: When a good leader leaves, what will happen to the school afterwards?”
Twenty-one speakers at Tuesday’s meeting urged the School Board to approve the application, including three Port St. Lucie council members, and no one spoke against it.
Port St. Lucie has agreed to lease Somerset a 25-acre site on Village Parkway for the vo-tech school, which will be geared to provide workers to the businesses in the “Tradition Jobs Corridor.”
Among the employers are Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital, which plans to continue growing, and the manufacturing facilities under construction by City Electric Supply and Oculus Surgical.
“All of them are excited about the charter vo-tech center being in their neighborhood,” said Councilman John Carvelli, who served 16 years on the School Board.
A city survey found 80 percent of residents support the vo-tech school proposed in Tradition Commerce Center, Carvelli said.
Port St. Lucie took ownership of 1,160 acres in Tradition Commerce Center and $5 million in annual carrying costs last June. Most of the land along Interstate 95 between Becker Road and Discovery Way is vacant.
The council decided last July to seek a partner to develop a vocational-technical school on city-owned land to provide trained workers to the businesses that will be developed in the jobs corridor.
The initiative was partially in response to a 2017 study by the county Economic Development Council that found a shortage of skilled workers in the construction, manufacturing and healthcare professions.
“I think it would be in our best interests to ensure our children to have the choice and the option to go to a pure vocational-technical training academy, such as Somerset,” Jordan Kahle, whose child attends Somerset Academy St. Lucie elementary school, told the School Board. “We definitely need help in the trades here in St. Lucie County.”