Rezoning of Seminole County Schools

School leaders gave the go-ahead to pursue a massive rezoning of Seminole County elementary schools, as well as eventually rezoning the middle and high schools too. Officials are hoping to balance student enrollments between schools that are overcrowded and those that are far under capacity. The board agreed to start the process to rezone elementary schools for the 2013-14 school year, high school the 2014-15, and middle by 2015-16. The elementary schools in the Northwest Cluster at Sanford are overcrowded and need relief. Those include Bentley, Crystal Lake, Idyllwilde and Wilson. Farther south, Heathrow and Spring Lake elementaries have too many students, too. At the same time, some elementary schools such as Carillon and Layer are under capacity. Many of the county's 36 elementary schools could be affected as officials try to level out enrollments among schools. Lake Brantley High School is nearing capacity along with Seminole High, which currently has 3,300 students. While Oviedo High is only three-quarters full, but it's on the opposite side of the county. Among middle schools, Milwee, South Seminole, Millennium, and Sanford are overcrowded, while Greenwood Lakes is under capacity. They are hesitant to make changes for the middle- and high-schools because they want to put magnet programs into the equation. Suggesting duplicating magnet programs to both alleviate overcrowding and reduce transportation costs. Starting a second International Baccalaureate program in a high school on the east side of the county, for example, could relieve some crowding at Seminole High, where the county's only IB program is located. During the rezoning process, the board also wants to consider where new housing is being built in the county. They reported that about 3,000 housing units are in the works and could add an estimated 1,000 students. A planned Renaissance Charter set to open next year could move nearly 900 students from traditional schools, and three more charters are in the works as well. The board hopes to have the new zones agreed upon in place by mid-winter! While the elementary school rezoning will affect Sanford area elementary schools, they have no intention of dismantling racial equality in education that the clusters were designed to help promote. The two cluster zones were set up in the late 1990s as part of the district's efforts to get out from under decades-old federal desegregation orders. Parents have been able to choose among several schools, based on where they live. The clusters might go away under the rezoning, but officials say they want to work toward balancing students in county schools based on family income, rather than race.