District creating attendance zone for new elementary school

Final vote on new zones to be held on Feb. 3, 2023

Clay County School Board members said they are leaning toward a new attendance zone for Spring Park Elementary, now under construction, that would draw students for the new campus from an area bordered by Peters Creek, the St. Johns River, Governors Creek and Rosemary Hill Road.

Lance Addison, the district’s coordinator for planning and intergovernmental affairs, told board members during a Dec. 5 workshop that potential growth could bring 12,800 new homes, 2,700 elementary students, 820 junior high students, and 1,700 high school students to the Lake Asbury-Saratoga Springs area.

Addison said that projecting population growth is an inexact science, much like predicting the path of a hurricane.

Bolla reinforced Addison’s point, recalling that in 2007, the district expected the newly constructed Shadowlawn Elementary to fill up quickly, but the ensuing recession one year later left the district searching for students to fill the new campus.

Addison added that 725 new homes are now planned and platted within Shadowlawn’s attendance zone.

“So, those are different things that we will have to address in the future,” Addison stated, “and like I said, it is fluid, and we will have to address this on an annual basis if not more frequently.”

Addison said that currently, Lake Asbury Elementary is above capacity at 100.2%. Other surrounding schools include Shadowlawn Elementary at 86.6%, Lake Asbury Junior High at 76.6% and Clay High School at 85.6% of capacity.

Addison also said that one of the biggest problems with the current zones is that the district’s best-performing elementary: R.M. Paterson is overpopulated.

To relieve that overcapacity, the district carved out two pockets within the Paterson zone: one on Fleming Island and a second in Magnolia West. Students within the Fleming Island pocket were sent to Fleming Island Elementary, and students in the Magnolia West pocket now attend Thunderbolt.

“Those are a couple of problems that we need to correct right now,” Addison said, “because they cause severe transportation issues.”

Addison led board members through four options for creating a new zone for Spring Park Elementary.

He said all four options fulfill the rezoning objectives of balancing zones, relieving capacity, reducing the use of portables and addressing growth. However, Option B is the only one that fulfills the additional objective of simplifying transportation.

Option B results in an 80.9% utilization for the new school with 689 students. The option also reduces Paterson’s capacity from 101.1% to 68.7%, increases Rideout’s from 73.5% to 80.5%, decreases Thunderbolt’s capacity from 80.8% to 80.1%, decreases Lake Asbury’s from 100.2% to 85.3%, increases Charles E. Bennett’s from 74.9% utilization to 85.2% and lowers Shadowlawn’s from 86.6% to 75.6%.

The significant neighborhoods affected under Option B include Cross Creek, Magnolia West, Magnolia Point, Willow Springs east of U.S. 17, Edgewater Landing, Jeremy’s Glen and Traceland.

The option takes students in Magnolia Point and in Magnolia Springs east of U.S. 17 who attend Paterson and places them in the new school.

Addison said the plan solves the current transportation problem of transporting children from Magnolia Spring north to Paterson.

The option also assigns all students living in Cross Creek to Rideout Elementary.

Board Member Mary Bolla recommended the district move forward with Option B, and Board Chair Ashley Gilhousen said she was comfortable with that recommendation. No other board member objected to Bolla’s proposal.

The board will vote on advertising the new school zones during its Dec. 20 special board meeting and will hold a community meeting on the proposed zones at Green Cove Springs Junior High School on Jan. 17, 2023.

The board will hold a public hearing and vote on the new zones during its Feb. 3, 2023, meeting.