St. Lucie County school officials have until June 1 to draft a charter for the 1,520-seat vocational-technical school planned in Port St. Lucie’s Tradition Commerce Park.
Next, Somerset Academy officials have 40 days to negotiate the charter’s terms and conditions with school district officials and gain School Board approval for the vo-tech school for grades 6-12.
If the governmental approval and construction processes go smoothly, the $18 million school could open as soon as August 2020, said Erika Rains, principal of Somerset College Preparatory Academy in St. Lucie West, who will also serve as principal of the vo-tech.
“Optimistically, I would say August 2020,” Rains said about the opening. “Realistically, probably more like August 2021.”
Meanwhile, Somerset Academy and Port St. Lucie officials are to meet on May 13 to finalize a lease agreement for a 25-acre school site on Village Parkway in Tradition Commerce Park.
The city acquired 1,160 acres along Interstate 95 between Becker Road and Tradition Parkway in June 2018 to maintain the momentum of several business development projects in the city’s “jobs corridor.”
The City Council envisions the vo-tech school feeding trained workers to nearby Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital, manufacturing facilities, such as Oculus Surgical and City Electric Supply, and construction trades.
The School Board approved the Somerset Career Academy Port St. Lucie application on April 30, setting the stage for the charter negotiations.
After the school district sends a draft charter to Somerset, legal teams for the two sides will analyze the details and try to negotiate an agreement. If the two parties cannot reach an agreement during the 40-day negotiation period, the Florida Department of Education will provide mediation.
If Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, the former state House speaker, does not believe mediation will help, he can refer the dispute to an administrative law judge for a ruling. That decision can be appealed to the 4th District Court of Appeals in West Palm Beach.
Somerset Academy overcame School Board objections and gained state approval in 2011 for Somerset College Prep, which serves grades 6-12. Somerset Academy also runs Somerset Academy St. Lucie, a K-5 school in the city’s Woodland Trails neighborhood.
Both sides seemed more amicable this time around. “I’m hoping the chances are good,” Rains said about the likelihood of forging an agreement with school officials on the vo-tech charter.
“Once we have reached an agreement and hammered out the terms of the charter, it comes back before the School Board for final approval,” Rains said. “From there, it’s full steam ahead.”
Schools Superintendent Wayne Gent said he wants the charter to include requirements for the Somerset Career Academy to focus on the healthcare, manufacturing and construction trades.
“We just hope (there) is the guarantee that main focus is on the trades,” Gent said. “If it doesn’t maintain that focus, then it’s really duplicative of programs we’re already offering, and that’s not the best use of taxpayers’ dollars.”
