Two new K-8 schools are opening in St. Johns County next year. Some parents think plans for the one in Nocatee need some revisiting.
The St. Johns County School Board met to go over some of the changes earlier this week. The board’s presentation showed somewhere in the range of 800-1,100 students at Pine Island Academy, another K-8 school in Nocatee, may be moved to the new school next year.
The new school hasn’t been named yet, so, right now, it’s known as “K-8 RR.” It’s located on Conservation Trail near the Seabrook Village and Settler’s Landing neighborhoods within Nocatee.
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Some parents have been sharing concerns about how safe their kids will be if they end up taking a new route to walk to school.
“We already have a bunch of accidents that happen out there all the time,” one of those parents, Tim Bosch, told Action News Jax. Bosch said his daughter goes to Pine Island Academy now, and may be one of the students who is moved to the new school.
“Maybe we need to bring down the speed limit during the day,” Bosch said, “I think that we really do need to streamline this so kids are walking less of a distance.”
Action News Jax found there are sidewalks on both sides of the road leading to the new school site. Florida law also requires kids to have a safe way to walk to school.
But it’s not stopping other parents, like Cole Naldzin, from worrying.
“I think that’s an absolutely valid concern for every single parent in any district, in any community, anywhere,” said Naldzin.
Moving kids between schools is nothing new in St. Johns County. It happens not only every time a new school comes online, but Action News Jax has told you in recent years when some students had to move between schools, mostly because some were overcrowded.
It’s why some parents say they’re already expecting their students to be moved.
“The reality is somebody’s child will have to take a different path to school,” Naldzin said.
RELATED: St. Johns County schools to host town halls with the Superintendent
We reached out to the St. Johns County School District for a response to some of the concerns shared by parents both in and out of this week’s school board meeting, but we’re still waiting for a response.
The school district said the school board will meet again on October 7th to go over its possible plans to move students around between the new schools that are opening.
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